


Camp Love

by LMB



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Coming of Age, M/M, Meddling Kids, Summer Camp AU, They're All Pretty Cute Though, Victuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 04:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 35,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8607841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMB/pseuds/LMB
Summary: After receiving his acceptance letter, eighteen-year-old Yuuri Katsuki travels halfway around the world to become a CIT at Camp Shining Sun. Will this be the best summer of his life? Or will homesickness get the best of him?Loosely based off head canon I saw on Tumblr.





	1. Chapter 1

Somehow, he got that acceptance letter.

His parents told him getting a job over the summer would help him prepare for college and ease his anxiety which prompted him to send a self-recommendation letter to Camp Shining Sun even though he thought it would never happen considering he was probably one of the quietest, most nervous kids in all of Japan and yet somehow –

He got it.

The CIT director wrote that she was impressed by his work ethic, which, in Yuuri’s opinion, was about all he had going for him. She said that sessions would begin on June 22nd and suggested he fly to America early to sign up for camp activities he liked. Yuuri frowned in thought.

What _did_ he like?

When he first registered, he got so caught up in the idealism of kids of different cultures learning about one another that he forgot there was actual _camping_ to be had. What even _was_ camping? How could he possibly learn to row a canoe, or cook a marshmallow?

Why, he’d probably burn it to a crisp!

With so many questions left unanswered, he hugged his family goodbye at the airport outside of Hasetsu and boarded a flight to America. Now, whole new problems began to rise. His English was decent enough, but how would the other campers’ be? Suppose they laughed at him. Suppose he didn’t like it there. Who would take care of the family dog while he was gone?

Sweating, he dialed his family’s phone number and left a quick voice message to feed Vic-chan twice every day and change his water bowl just as much so he wouldn’t get germs –

“No cell phones on board,” a flight attendant’s voice boomed above him.

“Oh! Sorry!” Yuuri jumped, hiding his red face as he tucked the phone under his coat. The man chuckled.

“You nervous?”

“Hm? Well,” he sighed, “maybe just a little.”

“I was too, on my first flight. You get used to it after a while.” The man gave him a friendly nod and went on his way. Once he was gone, Yuuri pulled his white surgical mask over his face and closed his eyes, trying not to think about the plane plunging into the ocean below.

It took nearly a day to fly to America plus a two-hour drive to the campsite, so it was no wonder Yuuri arrived on the first day looking like a wreck. Already, he could feel several pairs of eyes taking in his unwashed hair and disheveled clothing. He began to feel a little anxious.

Luckily, the lady in front of him smiled and welcomed him to the camp, handing him a clipboard on which he could sign his name. He eyed the other names. Some of them were too messy for him to read and others were in perfect cursive. One was even written in purple ink.

He wondered who that could be.

“You signed up for ‘Kids of the Earth’, right?” the lady reaffirmed, startling him out of his daze.

“Yes,” said Yuuri. She nodded at that and got out a map.

“The boy’s cabin is on the eastern side, near the bathhouse and high ropes course. Think you’ll make it there okay?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

“Very well. Good luck with your training!” She waved goodbye to him as he made his way over to the cabin.

From a distance, he could see a lanky man with chiseled features stumbling backwards and yelling as a parade of small children pounced on him. A red-haired girl stood nearby, laughing at his misfortune. Yuuri grimaced. He made a smart decision signing up for the oldest kid group – he had no idea how to interact with kindergarteners.

The rest of the day did not run as smoothly. Several times Yuuri tripped over the gravel pathways and heard at least one person laugh. Whenever someone saw him and tried to meet him, he freaked out and ran away in fear that his face would turn red or he’d mess up his English. As a result, he ended up eating dinner alone in his room – except for the daddy long-leg that made a startling appearance on his window.

He couldn't have screamed louder if he tried.

***

Now, it is late evening.

Yuuri turns on his laptop and rereads the main website for the eighth time that week:

_Welcome to Camp Shining Sun, the Land of Good Times!_

_As you know, we are a non-profit organization built for the purpose of promoting individual growth and creativity within children over the summer through age-appropriate yet challenging activities._

_Here, at Camp Shining Sun, there are three major divisions: Kids of the Earth hosts kids from ages nine through fifteen and focuses upon children around the world getting to know each other. The Wild Explorers are for kids aged six through eight who simply can’t get enough of the great outdoors and daily adventure. And then there are the Little Cubs (arguably the cutest of the bunch!), from ages four to five, who go during the daytime when parents have to work except for the occasional sleepovers._

_Our staff pledges to be a friend to all campers and –_

Yuuri stops there.

He knows this isn't what the mission statement meant, but how can he possibly become friends with all the campers? Who would _want_ to be his friend after the pathetic display from this afternoon?

And oh, the homesickness! Cold salad for supper was nothing like the juicy pork cutlet bowls back at the inn, nor the steaming hot springs and cherry blossoms. He knows camp counselors are supposed to be positive, but how can he be when he’s more than six thousand miles from everything - every _one -_ he’s ever known?

Yuuri sits on the edge of his bed, curling in on himself.

He’s starting to think this was a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it’s almost winter where I live, so this ought to be interesting. X-D
> 
> Here’s the original (props to owner!):  
> http://one-very-sexy-katsudon.tumblr.com/post/153413022068/camp-counselors-au-please


	2. Chapter 2

The dining hall is packed the next morning. Who knew breakfast here was so popular? Though, when he catches a whiff of the fluffy pancakes and sizzling sausages, he suddenly knows why.

Yuuri gets a spoonful of scrambled eggs and fills a cup with fresh-squeezed orange juice. He is just about to sit down at the emptiest table when he bumps into a woman by mistake, nearly spilling her coffee in the process.

“I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” he cries, bowing incessantly before realizing he’d spoken in Japanese by mistake and groaning to himself.

“Are you the new counselor in training?” she asks in his native language.

“Y-Yes,” he says, taken aback. Then, in English, “Where in Japan are you from?” She laughs and he cowers, thinking he messed up, but then she answers,

“Kyushu, near Fukuoka.”

“That’s where _I_ live!” Yuuri bursts. She gapes.

" _No!_ You’re from Hasetsu _too?_ Oh my goodness, but that’s such a small town!” They begin chatting animatedly to one-another in Japanese. They talk about subjects ranging from a shared love of dancing to their favorite meals, but to everyone else they look like they are going nuts. “I’m Yuko,” she says, finally, holding out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Y-You too,” says Yuuri, “It’s nice meeting you too, I mean - *sigh* I'm Katsuki Yuuri.” She giggles.

“Come sit down with me, I don’t bite.”

She leads him to a table where one other girl is sitting. Yuuri recognizes her from yesterday. “Mila is also in our CIT program this year,” Yuko says, pointing to the red head. Mila looks up and smiles in acknowledgement. “We call her ‘Bubbles’ because she’s always high-energy and can’t seem to shut her mouth.” Mila sneers.

“You’re just jealous that I got that name and you were stuck with ‘Quirk’.”

“I never said that!” Yuko snaps, making her jump. Then she smiles and says, “Anyway, we all give each other camp names to build trust among the staff and get to know each other in a more unique way. See that lady over there?” She points at a tall woman with bright lipstick and feathered hair. “That’s Anya. The kids call her ‘Stone’ behind her back since she acts so cold towards them and it’s stuck ever since. And that, over there, is Georgi,” she continues, gesturing at the lanky man from yesterday. “We call him ‘Romeo’ because he and Stone are in the middle of a tragic relationship and he has a hard time getting laid.”

She and Mila laugh, and Yuuri is not sure whether he should join or not. Then, Yuko shrugs. “As you can see, they’re pretty derogatory. We don’t take ourselves too seriously around here.” The two girls giggle, and this time, Yuuri does join in a little. “But some of them actually make sense, though,” Yuko says thoughtfully, “Take Chris, for example, the fastest rock-climber in our camp. He got the nickname ‘Speedy’. And there’s one from last year who we call ‘Vkusno’ because he says that a lot at the dining hall and he’s, well...quite sexy, if I do say so myself.”

Mila squeals in agreement and they both fan themselves. Yuuri tilts his head.

“Your nose is bleeding.”

“Oh?” Yuko looks up from her dazed state. “Oh, yeah. It does that sometimes.” She shrugs and continues smiling off into the distance. Then, shaking her head, “Oh my goodness, I’m married. What was I thinking?! Sorry!” She jumps out of her chair as if she were bitten by a fire ant and looks up at Yuuri with glinting eyes. “Want to see the rest of the camp?”

Yuuri nods, smiling. He likes this girl and her strange thought process. But before he can say anything, she grabs his wrist and drags him out the door, babbling about how beautiful the forest is and how much he is going to love this place.

They run along the babbling creek, waving hello to some of the other counselors in the process. The sun peaks from above the purple mountains in the distance as the crisp air blows against their faces. She points out the rippling American flag on the pole and Yuuri can’t help thinking it’s like something out of a song.

They rush past the baseball field and volleyball courts and arrive at the climbing wall, where a man with toned muscles and styled blond hair has just gotten down.

“Face it, Romeo! You’ll never beat me!” he calls up to the panting figure above.

“We’ll see by the end of summer, Speedy!” the man retaliates in a thick Russian accent.

The blond shakes his head, chuckling, then turns to meet the two on the ground.

“Yuuri, this is Christophe, my fellow counselor for our group, the Wild Explorers. Chris, this is Yuuri, our new counselor in training this year,” Yuko introduces.

“Hey, there,” Chris greets, taking Yuuri’s hand in a death grip and shaking it roughly, “Nice to meet you. You don’t plan on beating me at my own game, do you?” He laughs, directing his head at the climbing wall. Yuuri laughs meekly, rubbing his sore hand.

 _He’s quick to establish dominance,_ he notes.

“Chris, you’ll be there to greet the kids while I give Yuuri a tour, right?” says Yuko.

“Oh, yeah, I’m on it,” he says, waving a hand in dismissal. Yuko smiles.

“Alright, then! See you later.” She grabs Yuuri’s wrist and they’re off again. “Chris can be kinda lazy, so I have to remind him repeatedly to do certain tasks. It’s a bit of a pain,” she whispers, rolling her eyes. Yuuri nods in understanding.

Later, once they’ve looked at all the campfire rings and the playground, they walk through the forest, appreciating the sounds of singing birds and yellow patches of sunlight along the trail. Yuko, second cup of coffee in hand, explains the origins of the camp.

“This place is actually funded by the local high school. Leo de la Iglesia’s father is the president of the CSS Committee, so that’s why they run it in America. Leo comes every year. I hope he can make it this year. He’s fourteen now so we never know when he’s going to rebel about how ‘uncool’ summer camp is, but he doesn’t seem like that kind of guy. Here’s hoping!” She crosses her fingers on both hands. Yuuri laughs.

She turns to him, a serious expression on her face for once. “Yuuri, how come I haven’t seen you before?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he says, furrowing his brow.

“Well, we come from the same town, and I’m only two years older than you. I just thought I would have seen you at the grocery store or something,” she says. Yuuri shrugs.

“I don’t know. I guess I never went out much. Even in school I was relatively unknown since I didn’t have any friends,” he chuckles, though it isn’t funny.

“Well, I don’t understand that at all,” she says, hands on her hips. “You’re a great person to talk to.” His face flushes at that and a sheepish smile grows on his face.

“Thanks, Yuko,” he whispers.

They walk back to Yuuri’s cabin where she drops him off to get ready for supper. He turns to her. “Thank you for your kindness. I feel a lot more welcome here, considering it’s my first time away from home.”

“Aw.” Her lips pout in sympathy. “Well, feel free to get coffee with me anytime you’re lonely. Anyone from Hasetsu is a friend of mine.”

His heart skips a beat at that. He smiles after her retreating figure and straightens his back.

Perhaps he’ll give this camping thing a try after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter we'll meet the kiddies, plus someone special.
> 
> I wonder who that could be. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The day the kids arrive, Yuuri feels relieved. Sleeping by himself in the cabin several nights in a row is unnerving, to say the least. Even when he prefers to be alone.

He watches as they sign in at the front desk, allowing himself a first glimpse at their personalities. One kid takes a picture of himself while smiling and sticking his tongue out, one kid makes friendly chat with a more shy and hesitant one, one frowns and wipes his nose, and the smallest of the group looks around with bright eyes and a grin covering half his face. The girls are all gathered in a tight circle, so he can't hear what they're talking about. Though, judging by the occasional laugh, it must be pretty funny.

For one paranoid second, Yuuri thinks they might be laughing at _him_ – but then he sees most of their backs are turned, so he dismisses it.

After the kids check in, the girls go with Anya and the five boys from earlier plus a few other ones go up to poor Yuuri, who still hasn’t met the new counselor he is supposed to be training under. Hands trembling, he reaches for his clipboard and reads from a scripted introduction he wrote the night before – pathetic, he knows.

“H-Hello, kids, and welcome to Camp Shining Sun! I’m Katsuki Yuuri and this is my first year working here.” He looks up to meet several pairs of blank eyes. Oh God. No one told him he’d have this large an audience. He can feel his throat constricting, shortening his breath -

“Hi! I’m Minami Kenjirou and I’m psyched to be here!” the smallest kid piped up, twirling around in circles. Wait. That kid just spoke to him in Japanese, which means – oh no!

_Yuuri had spoken in Japanese also!_

Chest heaving up and down, he tries to retranslate the whole thing in his head to repeat out loud. _How do you say ‘welcome’..._

“Good morning, Yuuri!” a cheerful voice calls from behind. He turns to see Yuko wearing a blue scarf and realizes he'd like one of his own. ...Albeit less sparkly. “You look like you’re struggling. What’s up?” She’s smiling, but her eyebrows are frowning.

“English,” he says simply, pointing at the sin that was Japanese calligraphy on the paper. She nods in understanding, mouthing a silent “oh”. She turns to the kids and says in English,

“Hey, everyone! This is Yuuri and he’s from Japan. He’ll be one of your team leaders this summer! Now – what are _your_ names and countries of origin?”

“Hi! My name’s Phichit and I’m from Thailand,” a kid with a camera around his neck greets.

“I’m Guang-Hong and I’m from the People’s Republic of China,” says the shy one.

“I’m Leo and I’m from America. But you know that already.” Everybody laughs at that.

“Yuri. Russia. Don’t care.” Yuuri gasps. Another _'Y_ _uri'!_

“My name’s Minami, I’m from Japan and I _love_ this place!” That prompts a little laugh from Yuko. The kid named Phichit turns to Yuuri.

“It’s alright, Yuuri. I mess up my English too.” Yuuri smiles, nodding a quiet thank you to him. Now if only he could speak English as well as he understood it…

Yuko sticks around and helps translate until she has to go with her own kids. Then, Minami takes over. His English is much better than Yuuri’s, and that intimidates him, but then he remembers he still has time to learn over the summer. Sometimes he’ll offer up his own phrases in broken English and the kids will nod in understanding, smiling at him. He likes when that happens.

After lunch, however, Yuuri finds himself questioning most of his life choices, because he is seriously struggling to catch these kids’ interest. He had printed out a camping schedule for them to follow, but they aren’t having it. Everywhere they go, it’s like dragging a bag of rocks.

“When can we play on the volleyball court?” asks Minami.

“Not yet, remember? That’s between 1:15 PM and 2:10 PM,” Yuuri reminds him. “We still have exactly three minutes to go of bird-watching.”

“Yuuri, we haven’t even found anything,” says Phichit. “I mean, no offense, but it’s like every single bird flew off the face of the Earth in this area. Plus, everyone’s getting antsy.” He points out all the younger kids with their long faces and bouncing legs, waiting impatiently for instant excitement. Yuuri runs his hands down his face.

“Look, guys, just give me one more minute to see if I can find the red-breasted robin. Then we can go on our one-hour nature walk - ”

“Hey, look! A monarch butterfly!” Guang-Hong cries.

“Oh, cool, where?” The kids chatter in excitement as they get up from behind the brush and walk out into the open forest.

“No no no, wait, I - !” Soon, they’re all laughing and fooling around. Yuuri outstretches his hand in a sad attempt. “...Come back...”

“Is there a problem here?” Yuuri startles at the sweet Russian voice and turns to see a pair of warm yet wintry eyes. At this point, he’s so upset he might start hiccupping.

“W-We’re supposed to follow a set schedule, but…”

The man laughs, placing an arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. The main point of camping is to have fun. As long as they’re happily interacting with one another, we’ll know we’re doing our job. Look at them,” he says, fondness in his voice. Yuuri watches as the sunlight scatters across their clothes and the butterfly weaves its way around their laughing faces. He can’t help but smile a little.

They watch the kids in silence for a while before the man says, “Here, now, watch and learn.” He pats Yuuri’s shoulder and runs up to the group. “Hey, guys! I just came up with this cool new game to play!”

“Alright!”

“What is it?” They crowd around him like goats and a shepherd. Everybody is drawn to the way the man gesticulates with his hands, the wideness of his eyes as he speaks and grey hair that looks silvery in the sunlight. The focus shifts slightly when the kids begin chasing each other around and calling out different animal names, but then all eyes are back on him. Yuuri’s mouth hangs open –

He will  _definitely_  have to take notes.

Once everybody is short of breath, the man goes back up to Yuuri and smiles, taking his hand.

“Victor Nikiforov. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Yuuri sighs, stupid smile on his face from the contact before he realizes and panics, “...I mean, _I’m Katsuki Yuuri!”_ His face flushes and he looks at the ground. “Nice meeting you too,” he whispers at low volume.

And there’s that laugh again. Only, it’s not as condescending as Yuuri thought it would be.

“I’m going to drop off my bags and go for a little swim with my friends. Care to join us?”

“No, I have to stay here and wait for my counselor to arrive.” Victor furrows his brow in confusion.

“But I _am_ your counselor. We’re sharing a cabin together.”

Yuuri nearly has a coronary right on the spot.

*** 

That night, after barely recovering from the initial shock of that very handsome man moving in with him, Yuuri and his other fellow counselors host a camp-wide bonfire. Chris clears his throat.

“In honor of our new guests who have arrived this week as well as some old familiar friends, we will now be giving out camp names, because let’s face it, some of these are too damn hard to pronounce.”

“Chris! Language!” Yuko hisses, but everybody laughs. When she sees it has gone over most of the little kids’ heads, she relaxes and says, “We’ll start by going around the circle. When I point at a person, someone will have to shout out a name and give a reason why they think it suits them. Ready? Go!” She points first at Phichit.

“‘Prince’, because he carries himself with grace,” Guang-Hong says very seriously. Everyone does a double-take at his maturity before moving on and pointing at Leo.

“Go!”

“‘Lion’, because that’s what Leo means in Latin and it’s his zodiac sign!”

“Very clever, Minami!” Yuuri smiles – she’s already picking favorites.

She points at another kid. “Go!” While they continue naming and evaluating their reasons, Victor leans over to whisper in Yuuri’s ear.

“We were warned by Guang-Hong’s parents that he gets homesick quite easily, so we agreed to let him choose his own name so he feels like he has more control.” Yuuri nods, though it’s all he can take not to lean in towards the warm breath. Once it is his turn, Victor asks, “Now, Guang-Hong, what would you like your camp name to be?”

“I’d like a name not too far-off from my real one, please, like ‘Gee’.”

“Aw, c’mon, that’s lame,” some of the kids complain.

“Hey, now, be nice,” Victor says, waving them off before turning to the preteen and smiling. “I think Gee is a great name for you. Very mature.” Gee smiles and blushes.

“I want a camp name close to my real one too. In fact, don’t change my name at all,” Yuri speaks up, folding his arms. Mila pulls a bit of a face and says,

“Okay, well your name’s Yuri and his is _Yuuri,_ so that’s too confusing. I know! We’ll call you ‘Yurio’!”

“Huh? I refuse to be called by that name!”

“Would you rather be called ‘Doll’ instead?”

“Augh! No! Yurio it is!” Everybody laughs. Then, someone points at Minami.

“Go!”

“Minami, I’m going to call you ‘Happy’, because ever since you first got here, you haven’t stopped smiling,” Yuko giggles.

“Camping is fun! I can’t wait to do this again next year with all my friends,” says Minami. That prompts some ‘aww’s from the counselors. Finally, all eyes are on Yuuri. He feels himself shrinking under all the stares.

“Go!” says Yuko, but the effect is not as quick. In fact, some people have actually paused to think.

“Well, you don’t talk a lot, so we don’t really know you.” says Chris. Yuuri curls in on himself. They’re right, it’s all his fault. He should have put himself out there more –

“I think we should call him ‘Crash’, since he trips over everything,” Mila giggles. “What do you think, Victor?”

Victor places a calculating finger on his lips and looks at him for a while, then says, “‘Ocean’... because he wears a lot of blue.”

Yuuri blushes in delight - his favorite color!

 _Thank you,_ he mouths. Victor nods, smiling.

For the rest of the night he can’t take his eyes off Victor. Even when they’re making s’mores, an activity that is supposed to give Yuuri major perfectionist anxiety, he watches Victor laughing with his friends. Who _is_ this man? Whoever he is, he'd really like to know him. His heart pounds against his chest. He’s so focused, he doesn’t notice Phichit tugging on his shirt.

“Um...Yuuri? Your marshmallow’s on fire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor is such a good counselor. :’-) 
> 
> Also makes for good boyfriend material, no? ;)


	4. Chapter 4

“Yuko, I need your help - there’s this really cute guy working here, but I have no idea how to talk to him.”

“Oooh, I’ll do it! Who is it?” Yuko jumps up and down, getting in Yuuri’s face. Yuuri lets out a nervous laugh, tapping his fingers together.

“Victor.”

“ _Woah."_ She backs up with wide eyes, holding up her hands. “Woah, nope! Can’t help you there.”

“Why not?”

“Are you kidding? With _his_ looks? I’d die of hotness overload trying!”

“But you have to try! Please?” He looks at her with sad puppy dog eyes. She sighs, shaking her head.

“Look, I have to get back to my kids. Why don’t you try seeing what you two have in common? Hm?” She gives Yuuri's shoulder a friendly pat before joining Chris and the Wild Explorers at their breakfast table. Yuuri sits down at his table with his own kids and thinks for a long moment, not noticing as Yurio pulls back his spoon filled with ketchup-covered eggs and aims –

...Great. Well, he didn't need that shirt anyway.

***

Yuuri hasn’t seen Victor all day. He knows he teaches archery by the dining hall, but with high-energy kids like Minami and Leo, he knows he has to take them on a hike to properly tire them out. And so they do. The both of them end up leading the pack while everybody else is huffing and heaving up the mountain. Yuuri wouldn’t mind, only he is the furthest behind.

Clearly, he needs to get in shape.

At lunch he has an opportunity since Victor sits at the same table as the boys, but he freezes up every time he starts to speak. Which is embarrassing, considering they share a bunk bed.

Finally, it is time for afternoon _siesta,_ in which the campers go back to their cabins and either nap or do something quiet for an hour or two. Yuuri lays sprawled upon his bed and watches as Victor folds laundry, humming quietly to himself. The kids are all either napping, reading or playing on their phones in the other room, so it’s just the two of them now.

Sweat rolls down his face. He can feel the silence eating at him, like he knows the other expects him to say something.

“My dog’s name is Victor,” he blurts, before immediately facepalming himself. _That was so stupid! Way to go, Yuuri, now he’s gonna think you called him a dog -_

“You have a dog?” Victor’s eyes light up. “I do too, his name’s Makkachin. Want to meet him?”

“Y-Yeah, sure,” Yuuri says, double taking. That went better than expected.

Victor dials a series of numbers on his cell and sits beside Yuuri on the bed. Yuuri’s face goes red when the other leans a casual elbow upon his shoulder. For one moment, they hear the sound of the phone ringing. Then, a short crackle as the call gets through.

“Huh? Who is it, what do you want?” a deep voice grumbles.

“Yakov, it’s me. Would you put Makkachin on the phone?” The man groans.  

“For God’s sake, it’s a dog!”

“ _Please_ , Yakov? I know you’re busy, but I want him to meet my new friend.” Victor bats his eyelashes in innocence.

Yakov squints at the screen and notices Yuuri for the first time, mumbling a polite greeting before saying, “Fine! But you owe me.”

“Well, I can’t promise I won’t drink too much vodka at the next nightclub I go to, but I’ll certainly try.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Victor laughs and Yakov curses him in Russian before flipping the camera around and walking down the hallway. “My landowner for my apartment in St. Petersburg,” Victor explains to Yuuri. “He can be a real grumpy pants sometimes, but I love him anyway.”

“Shut up,” says Yakov. Victor laughs again.

Just then, they hear a bark and are met face-to-screen with a bundle of brown fur and heavy panting. Yuuri recognizes the breed immediately.

“Victor is also a poodle.”

“No kidding!” Victor’s eyes widen in interest. “Beautiful breed, aren’t they?”

Before Yuuri has a chance to answer, Makkachin barks. Victor’s face softens and he turns to the screen. “Hi, little one! Remember to behave until Papa comes home!” He makes some kissy sounds at his phone and the dog barks again. “Good boy!”

Yuuri watches in awed silence. This guy is good with both kids and animals. Is there anything he _can’t_ do? “Here, now _you_ say ‘hi’ to Makka.” Victor hands Yuuri his phone. Makkachin looks up at him with big black eyes and Yuuri nearly swoons. Just seeing that cute face is enough to forget his chronic nervousness and switch to dog-person mode.

“Hi, there! You’re a good boy, aren’t you? Oh, you’re so cute, I just want to reach through the screen and pet you!” Makkachin whines and nuzzles the screen with his nose. Doubt creeps into his mind when he sees how long Victor’s face looks. “Did I do something wrong?”

 “He likes you,” Victor says, previous expression molding into one of wonder. “It’s not often he does that gesture to strangers.” Then, smile growing on his face, “You must be pretty special.” Yuuri blushes, looking away. This guy is a total flirt.

Soon after, Victor bids goodbye to Makkachin and Yakov before hanging up. Yuuri chuckles.

“I thought I was the only one who talked to my dog on the phone. Now I know I’m not crazy.”

“Hey,” Victor turns to him, “a little crazy never hurt anyone.” He winks.

Yuuri feels himself melt a little. Just because this guy is a flirt doesn’t mean it’s not still charming.

***

The two of them end up spending the rest of afternoon _siesta_ getting to know each other. Yuuri finds he is mostly able to get past the idiotic stuttering phase and carry out a normal conversation with Victor, which is great. Sometimes, Yuuri forgets that he is just a guy with dreams and motivations, like him, and not some bit of royalty that dropped from the sky.

Though, he could really pass for either.

After, Victor asks him if he wants to take the kids to the lake, and he nods his head yes. Once they arrive, they meet Yuko and Chris, who have just returned with their kids from a nature hike. While the kids play with one another and Victor is chatting with Chris, Yuuri walks up towards the edge of the lake. He smiles at the water lilies, which look not-unlike the ones at home.

“Hey, pig!” Yurio calls, running up to him.

“Huh?”

Before he knows it, he feels small hands pushing at his back and he starts to fall forward. Yuuri lets out a yell, preparing to collide face-first with the water –

Then gasps when he doesn’t.

He looks up to find Victor’s face mere inches from his, panting heavily. His back is supported by strong arms, with one hand clutching at his shoulder.

“Careful. Little boys get very pushy this time of year. It’s happened to me a few times,” he says, directing his head towards Yurio. He stands Yuuri rightside up, still holding his back, and Yuuri subconsciously places his hands on his chest, both of them trying to catch their breath. Victor looks down at him. “Oh, your glasses are falling.”

“Hang on, I’ve got it…” Their hands both move in an effort to fix it and end up touching instead. Their breaths hitch. They neither move closer towards nor away from each other. They try to compose themselves, but every time one of them breaks contact to look down at their joined hands, they chuckle.

“Get a room!” Yurio calls.

“We already have one,” Yuuri sasses back before going red. “No, wait, I didn’t mean-!”

Victor laughs.

“You’re funny,” he says, gently prodding Yuuri’s nose with his fingertip. 

He slides his glasses back into place and pats his shoulder before leaving. Yuuri watches after him, stupid smile on his face. Then he realizes the kids are going also and he fumbles to catch up. Little does he know Yuko, Anya and Mila have witnessed the whole event.

“Gosh, that was so cute!”

“Did you see the way they looked at each other?”

“Girls,” Yuko says, “We _have_ to get them together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh – what are those girls planning?
> 
> Find out next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

It is not uncommon for the girl counselors to get together some nights and have a slumber party. Tonight, however, is different. Sure, they brought the face masks, fuzzy slippers and popcorn bowls, but this is no ordinary slumber party.

This is a love drill.

“Ugh,” Anya wrinkles her nose at her phone, “Georgi is still trying to hook up with me.”

“ _Still?_ What did he say?” Mila asks, painting her toenails.

“He just asked if I was awake and said he wanted me to come over.”

“Oh my gosh, he needs to move on!”

 _“Focus!”_ Yuko snaps, making them both jump. “For crying out loud, this is not the time for gossip - we have a real love emergency on our hands!” Mila rolls her eyes.

“Girl, calm down. It’s not even that bad. They’re already on the right path for having the hots for each other.” Anya nods in agreement.

“Yeah, it’s not like they’re toxic, or anything.”

“Like your relationship with Georgi?” Mila half-whispers.

“Hey! I heard that! Don’t make me whoop you!”

“What did I say!” Yuko fumes.

“Sorry.” Both girls shrink, shoulders slumping.

Yuko smiles.

“It’s alright. ...Now, as I was saying earlier, even though they’re on the right trajectory, if they don’t reach the desired destination fast enough nothing will ever come of it. That’s why we have to speed up the process.”

“So we set them up on a date?!” Mila squeals.

“No! Wait - _yes!”_ Yuko claps her hands together. “This is perfect, they’ll get to know each other more, build up their relationship, but - where are we going to send them on a date? ...We need ideas.”

She sits on her sleeping bag with a pout on her face, accentuated by the green of her avocado mask.

Anya and Mila sit with the same thoughtful expressions on their face before they hear a small knock at the door. They open it to see a parade of preteen girls in their pajamas.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be asleep,” says Anya. 

A girl with dark hair in braids watches the ground with a sheepish expression as she speaks.

“Well, we couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, and – ”

“We wanna help too,” another chimes in. Anya pinches her nose.

“Did you not hear me? It’s almost 11:30 - ”

“Hey, hey, come on, now,” says Mila, “The more the merrier, I always say.”

“Come on in, girls,” Yuko agrees, opening the door. Anya turns to the two with a distressed look on her face.

“My apologies. My girls know very well they’re supposed to be in bed with the lights out before ten o’clock at the latest.”

“Anya, honestly, it’s fine.” Mila shrugs. “This wouldn’t have stayed a secret for long anyhow. Better all the girls in the camp, right?”

They laugh.

“So,” says Yuko, turning to the campers, “do any of you know where these guys should go for their first ‘date’?”

The girls grin at each other in unison.

***

Yuuri sits up and yawns, stretching his achy muscles. Those camp mattresses aren’t too easy on the shoulders.

“Good morning~!”

“Augh!” He jumps before realizing whose upside-down head is hanging from the edge of the bunk. “Oh, Victor - you scared me.”

“Ready for roll call?” the man grins.

“You got it,” says Yuuri, giving him a thumbs-up. God, he hates it when he tries to act cool – it never works.

Victor laughs.

Alright, make that almost. 

They get out of bed and take turns changing into their clothes before walking into the attached room, where the kids are standing in line. Yuuri holds his clipboard and writes down all the names Victor calls.

“Prince.”

“Here!” says Phichit.

“Lion.”

“Here!” says Leo.

“Gee.”

“Here!” says Guang-Hong.

“Yurio.”

The young Russian sticks his tongue out and makes gagging sounds, which Yuuri interprets as “Here!”.

They go down the line, calling the names of all the other boys. As they move along, Yuuri furrows his brow deeper. Wasn’t there supposed to be one other kid?

Then, with a start, he realizes –

_Minami!_

Instant sweat rolls down his face and his chest expands up and down as his eyes look frantically around the room. It’s been a little less than a week and he’s already lost a kid!

He thinks of Minami’s parents angrily calling him over the phone, demanding the whereabouts of their missing son, and how the other counselors will hear of this and rag on him for being the worst, most irresponsible counselor-in-training ever, even Victor, and they won’t want him to come back, and…

Yurio groans, rolling his eyes.

“Would you relax, you stupid pig? He’s in the _bathroom._ He’s been in there for five Goddamn hours!” Victor's face becomes strict immediately.

"Yurio - do we swear or call people names?" The boy's head hangs.

"No."

"Right. Then why would you do that, knowing someone’s feelings could get hurt?”

"Whatever, _mudak,_ I'm angry!" He stomps his foot. Victor’s eyes widen, but he never once raises his voice. In fact, he gently places his hands upon Yurio’s shoulders and does the opposite.

“I know you’re frustrated. And I'll work every step of the way with you this summer to find an outlet for that.” Then, turning his head so he can make his message clear to the other kids, “When I have to talk to you in my adult voice, it’s nothing against you personally. I’m a friend to all campers, remember? But respect comes first, and if we can't establish that early on, we're not going to get on very well with others, now are we?"

"No, Sir," Yurio says, very stiff and tense. Victor notices his body language and chuckles good-naturedly.

"Now, now, there'll be none of that, either." He rests his arm on the other's shoulder. "I'll tell you what, why don't I buy you some breakfast and we'll consider it a truce." He smiles. "Thank you for letting us know where Minami went, by the way. That saved us from what could've been a major disaster," he says, looking in Yuuri's direction knowingly. Yuuri's jaw drops. 

Did he mention he would have to take _copious_ notes?

***

"Hey, are you okay?" Victor asks later, as the two of them are making their way to the boat docks.

“Why?” says Yuuri.

“I dunno. You were freaking out earlier and I felt bad, so I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” Yuuri chuckles.

“Well, ‘freaking out’ _is_ my native language.”

“No it’s not,” says Victor. “It’s Japanese, and you speak wonderfully.”

Yuuri smiles, butterflies growing in his stomach. The gesture gives him a boost of confidence and he looks up with a face flushed in delight.

“I could teach you some if you want.” Now, it’s Victor’s turn to blush, and _gosh his cheeks are so cute –_

“Oh, Yuuri, that would be great! And I can teach you Russian too!”

“Y-You would? _Victor_ – ”

He swears, if they continue on like this, one of them is going to burst a vein.

Just then, they happen upon a small canoe. The bottom has a blanket in it along with a picnic basket, candles, binoculars and a radio. Yuuri opens the basket. Inside, there are carrot sticks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese, grapes and juice boxes. There’s even a homemade potato salad with spice and scallions sprinkled on top.

He looks up, smile gracing his face. “Are your boats usually this well-decorated?”

Victor laughs out loud.

“No. But we might as well make the most of it while we can, right?”

“Right.”

They push the canoe out into the water, then take turns getting in. Victor has to help Yuuri with balancing since he hasn’t really been in a canoe before.

“Careful,” says Victor, clutching Yuuri’s forearms, “you almost fell, there. Here you go, sit down. That’s it, nice and easy…” He places him on the bow seat, then takes the one in the back. “Off we go!” He picks up a paddle and rows them towards the middle of the lake.

Yuuri picks up a paddle and looks at it in confusion. He tries to match his hand positions with Victor’s, but it’s not as effortless as it seems. Victor chuckles. “I take it you’ve never rowed a boat before?”

“I don’t know how. I-I’m sorry,” Yuuri sputters, face going red.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll row this time around,” says Victor.

“I am truly sorry. I don’t mean to be a burden – ”

“Nonsense. I’m doing this because I _want_ to.” His eyes sparkle. “Consider it my treat to you.”

They spend most of their afternoon on that canoe making meaningless conversation while their eyes do the connecting on a deeper level. All around them, the sounds of nature ring in the air. Finally, Yuuri breaks the small-talk barrier for a minute.

“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but – how is it you’re always one step ahead?”

“What do you mean?” Victor scratches his head.

“The kids. They love you. How do you do that?”

“Well, I’ve always been in touch with my inner childhood. In a way it’s my greatest downfall, too. I mean, face it: I’m twenty-two years old and have no idea what I’m doing with my life.” Yuuri double takes.

“Didn’t you go to college?”

“Oh, I tried that, believe me,” he says, waving it off. “I never even got my degree. I was so immature in those days. All I wanted to do was party. I still do now – God knows how many times I’ve gone to the clubs in St. Petersburg and Moscow.” He laughs and shakes his head. “I’ve always wanted to live in the thrill of things, you know? Be where the people are. I guess that’s another reason I like children so much. They know how to have the thrill of their lives within simple everyday life and share it with everybody else. I want to be a part of that.”

“Me too,” Yuuri can’t help saying. Victor smiles at that, then continues,

“I couldn’t wait long enough to see the world, so I dropped out to pursue a dancing career, but you know how hard that is these days. Luckily, Yakov found me within a few months of living on the road. I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for him.”

Yuuri’s lips part in wonder. He couldn’t possibly imagine doing the same thing as the man that sat before him. Why, his parents would _kill_ him! And they weren’t known for being particularly violent.

“Yuuri,” Victor says, breaking him out of his trance. “You’re so lucky you’re going to college. Please don’t make the same mistake as me.”

“Victor, I - ”

“ _Promise,_ Yuuri.” And in that moment - from that day - looking into those eyes of desperation, any insecurities he may have had about school slowly start to fade away. He clenches his fists.

“I will, Victor. I’ll go to college in Detroit and I’ll graduate, just for you.”

Victor lets out a huge breath, as though he were holding it in all this time.

“Good...that’s what I like to hear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad everyone's enjoying their summer - 
> 
> Meanwhile, it just snowed five inches here, haha.


	6. Chapter 6

By mid-afternoon, as the sun nears the horizon, they are still on the boat. Yuuri can’t help but feel it’s a bit irresponsible, considering the kids are probably wondering where they are, but this has been a good time.

They open the basket and dig in on some of the food.

“The only thing missing here is the wine,” says Victor. Yuuri giggles in agreement.

Whoever packed this lunch is seriously organized, though. They even know he likes his grapes peeled and his sandwiches open-faced. “You kidding?” Victor says when Yuuri tells him this. “Open sandwiches are a _given_ in Russia!” He pulls out his own open-faced sandwich, and Yuuri swears, he has never fallen so hard.

He leans forward and picks up the radio.

“I wonder if this thing works,” he says aloud. He turns it on and adjusts the knobs when a sappy, ballad-y Italian opera starts playing. His cheeks flush. “Seriously?” he laughs, trying to dismiss it as corny. Victor puts a finger on his lips in thought.

“I like this song, actually.” Yuuri looks up.

“You do?”

“Yeah. It sets the mood quite nicely – don’t you think?” He winks.

Well, Yuuri knows what song _he’s_ downloading on his playlist later.

They sit there, making idle chat until things quiet down and they find themselves watching nature in silence. Soon, their eyes fall back on each other. This lasts for a while until Yuuri’s constantly racing thoughts catch up with him and he bounces his leg, and Victor hums to himself, waiting for someone to speak.

Neither of them do too well with extended periods of silence.

Just then, Victor lifts his shirt over his head and dives out of the canoe and into the water in one swift movement.

“What are you doing?” Yuuri asks when he surfaces.

“Going swimming, of course,” he laughs. “Why, care to join?” Yuuri shakes his head, smiling.

“No thank you, not tonight.”

“Come on!” He pouts his lips and looks up at him with large blue eyes, and for a moment Yuuri wants to give in, but he stands his ground. After all, that water is freezing!

“Nah, I don’t feel like it - maybe some other time.” Victor groans through his nose, then ducks his head under.

What follows is a silly sequence in which Victor swims around the canoe, either coming up with new tricks he’d learned - “Yuuri, watch me! Watch this!” - or making funny faces. He used to think he was so cool – this dork who is currently making armpit farts and crossing his eyes can’t possibly be the same person.

Yuuri laughs a little, then turns to look at the sun. Whereas before it had hardly touched the horizon, it now scattered across it, like a runny egg in a sky of pink. The trees were bathed in sunlight, and now even the pond had golden flecks upon it. A cricket chirps along with the song on the radio, as if it wished it had a symphony of its own.

_“Stammi vicino~”_

“Hey, Yuuri, what’s that over there?”

“What - ” HIs sentence is interrupted by a tugging on his arm and he screams, plunging head-first into the cold water. He re-emerges, gasping and shaking his hair out. With an exasperated smile, he says,

“I thought I was the crazy one, but then I met you.”

Victor laughs. Yuuri splashes water at him, hitting him smack in the face. This prompts a water fight and they crack up, trying to get each other as wet as possible, not noticing as the sun sinks lower and lower.

***

By the time they get back onto the canoe and row to shore, the moon has made its appearance. The kids are definitely going to kill them.

Victor sneezes for the thirteenth time in a row since they’ve gotten out of the lake. Not that Yuuri is counting, or anything.

“My God – what is in that water?” Yuuri doesn’t even hesitate.

“Dirt, bacteria, an extremely cold temperature - ”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he laughs. Then, rubbing his red nose, “Have you got any tissues?” Yuuri puts his hands in his pockets, but takes them back out with nothing.

“Dammit.”

“Must’ve been Yurio,” Victor says, “He knows my nose gets runny.” He turns to the other with a wide grin on his face. “‘Course, I could just wipe it on _you_...”

Yuuri lets out a cry of disgust and Victor chases him back to the camp, cackling. He pushes branches aside, trying to get away. At one point he looks behind him to see if he’s gone - big mistake.

He trips on a hidden tree root and fumbles, allowing for Victor to swoop in and grab him from behind. “Augh! No!” The other chuckles, burrowing his nose in Yuuri’s shoulder and shaking his head. What’s even worse is that Victor is _freezing,_ so his hands are like blocks of ice on his skin. The most torturous part of all, however, is how ticklish the man’s hair is against his neck.

“Victor - Victor, look!” he says in-between laughs, trying desperately to distract him from wiping his nose on him any more.

Sure enough, they see the warm glow of a bonfire and the kids sitting around it, singing. Leo is playing the guitar, Mila is playing the ukelele, and Chris is purposefully or non-purposefully messing up the lyrics.

The two of them march up to the group, Victor’s arm around his shoulder.

“Hey,” he greets upon arrival, “hope you guys didn’t miss us too much.” Yuko lights up.

“It was not a problem! They joined our group after archery lessons and we all went rock-climbing and played get-to-know-you games on the baseball field. But enough about us,” she says, “How did it go with you two?”

The wording makes Yuuri raise an eyebrow, but Victor replies as if it were nothing, “Oh, well it was the most beautiful sunset out there this evening. We took a canoe out to the center of the lake and went for a little swim. Isn’t that right, Yuuri?”

“Well, it was more like he dragged me in. And ruined my favorite shirt, I might add.” Yuuri swats at the back of Victor’s head.

“Ow! Hey, it was worth it,” he laughs. “I can do laundry for you later, if you want.”

“That’s hot,” Chris catcalls.

“You stay out of this!” says Yuko, though her nose is starting to bleed as well. Yuuri frowns in thought. There’s something going on with the girls tonight. Looking around, he sees most of them are covering their mouths and chortling under their breath. He wonders what could be so funny.

Victor clears his throat.

“Anyhow, it was good catching up with you all. We’re going to change our clothes and we’ll be back, okay?”

“Yeah, hurry on up! We’re roasting marshmallows,” says Yuko. Yuuri inwardly groans. Not _that_ again.

As they are leaving, Yurio whispers low enough for only Yuuri to hear,

“You don’t take this seriously at all, do you?”

Yuuri tries to block out the words by putting his hands up over his ears, but it’s too late: they have already reached him. He knew it. This is really happening. Once one kid starts hating him, the rest will follow after like some sort of domino effect –

“Yuuri - you coming?” Victor calls.

“Er...yeah, just a second!” he replies, smiling. He is just about to leave again when a small hand grabs his wrist.

“Yuuri - don’t listen to him. He knows not of your full potential,” says Gee.

Yuuri chuckles nervously, not wanting a twelve-year-old idealist to know just yet how affected he really is, no matter how mature the child is beyond his years. Then, huffing, he goes to catch up with Victor.

Meanwhile, the girls are huddled together and conversing on the other side of the ring.

“So...do you think it worked?” says Yuko. Anya shrugs.

“It sounds like they had a really romantic time.”

“Yeah, but did they kiss?” she presses, referring more to her pair of spies she sent throughout.

“We walked by the area several times, but at no point did we see their lips lock,” says the braid-haired girl from yesterday.

“Dammit!” Yuko stomps her foot.

“Yuko! Language,” Chris teases, winking at her. Yuko rolls her eyes.

“Well, I guess it’s back to the drawing board then, _da?_ ” says Mila.

“ _Da,_ ” Anya agrees.

***

“Alright, it's bedtime everybody! Hey - phones away. You too, Gee. We’re going hiking tomorrow and Vkusno and Ocean will not be happy if we’re not on our feet. ...What’s that, Yurio? Bedtime _doesn’t_ apply to you? You better not make me tell Stone!”

Yuuri and Victor listen from the next room, chuckling. They can’t decide whether they regret or are completely proud of making Phichit the cabin’s official night monitor.

Soon after, things quiet down next door. Yuuri decides to use this opportunity to get something off his chest.

“Er...Victor?”

“Hm?” The other peeps his head upside-down from his bunk. 

“As fun as today was, Yurio’s right. I didn’t come halfway around the world for nothing.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Victor says, as though it were obvious. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I want to learn to be a proper counselor…” He looks up. “As soon as possible!” He realizes his hands have curled into fists and his voice rose an octave, which throws the other off guard for a moment. But then he smiles, lifting his head back over the edge.

“Tomorrow,” Victor says, laying his arms behind his pillow, “we’ll start with training.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The girls are back at it again! X-D
> 
> Unfortunately for them, Yuuri may have other plans...


	7. Chapter 7

Something has changed.

He doesn’t wake up feeling as excited as he did the day before. In fact, this day feels less anticipatory and more…

Apprehensive.

But he doesn’t have time to reflect on this sensation, for Victor and the kids are already getting up and rolling out without having even taken attendance.

It definitely doesn’t help that he stayed up until at least 3:30 AM with Yurio’s words continuously echoing through his mind. At the dining hall, he reaches out for the energy drink with the most caffeine. He may regret it later, but for now it’s an effective pick-me-up. 

Heck, he can already feel a smile growing on his face. This is great. He doesn’t know why he didn’t think of this earlier.

“You’re in a good mood this morning,” says Mila. “You didn’t happen to do you-know-what, did you?” She winks.

“N-No!” Yuuri’s ears burn. Then muttering, “Not yet, anyway.”

When he realizes, his hand flies to his mouth and Mila laughs out loud.

After a rather embarrassing breakfast, Yuuri and Victor take the kids, as promised, to the playground. Gee goes on the merry-go-round, Minami plays on the monkey bars and Leo and Phichit push the younger kids on the swings.

“I’m way too old for this,” Yurio complains, with a hint of a smile on his face as he goes down the slide.

Victor watches them all in clear amusement. Just then, he turns and gasps, having seen something.

“Yes, it’s still here!” He runs towards the object with a whimsical leap in his step and Yuuri giggles.

“What is it?”

“It’s the tire swing,” Victor says, laughing. “Every year, the counselors have a tradition where they drink as much as possible before riding it. Whoever falls or pukes first has to jump into the freezing cold lake. I beat Chris last year, he got _so_ mad.” Yuuri’s heart rate speeds up a little.

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Oh, it’s all in good fun,” Victor says, waving it off. “C’mon, let’s go on it together.”

He grabs Yuuri’s hand and helps him onto it. “There you go. Now hold on to this chain with your other – that’s it…” He sits across from Yuuri and grabs the chains from the other side, playful smile on his face. “Let’s go.”

“Victor wait - ”

Too late. Victor kicks off with his feet and before they know it, they’re spinning almost in mid-air. Yuuri’s stomach lurches as they make a sharp jerk to the right. The heat combined with the adrenaline rush coats his hands with sweat, and twice he fears he might fall. He could, at any rate, with the way his body keeps dipping backwards. “Woah woah woah!” he cries.

Victor, on the other hand, is enjoying every minute of this. He lets out some small cheers and laughs, closing his eyes.

Yuuri closes his eyes too, but not out of enjoyment. He can’t even think about how close he is to the other, how easy it would be to reach his head across and kiss him. He’s far too busy thinking about all the drunk people that went on this in years past. He imagines how scary that would be, having clouded judgement and slurring all your sentences together, yet you are expected to do such a daunting task.

_He can feel the invisible arms dragging him toward the tire swing, the ominous laughing and singing melting together. The blurred, laughing face of the person in front of him, dimmed except for the bonfire in the background. That laughter echoing in his ears as they start to spin out of control, and he can’t help but laugh too, at the rush of it all. Then the inevitable, as the cold air whips past him, hitting him square in the chest. Down he falls, past the sea of voices and towards the ground, accompanied by a crunching noise and a small crack of his skull..._

His thoughts go astray when his head flips upside-down again. He can feel a small air pocket building up in his throat. His eyes widen. It’s already happening!

“Victor,” he calls, air rushing in his ears. “Victor! Could you let me off, please?” By now, his breathing has grown heavy. Victor skids to a stop, looking concerned.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just got a little dizzy, that’s all.”

It is partially the truth, as it turns out, for he can feel the acidic taste of leftover breakfast crawling up his throat. He steps off, world spinning around him. It feels like his body is still in motion. He doesn’t notice that Victor is still watching him as he goes to sit on the bench and calm his breathing.

“What’s with him?” Yurio asks.

“I don't know,” says Victor, putting a finger to his lips. “Something's different today.”

 ***

The tire swing event killed his mood a bit. The bags under his eyes, especially, become visible under the sunlight, which causes people to look at him in worry more. He shudders.

He doesn’t want them getting concerned with his problems.

“Okay,” Victor says, patting him on the shoulder. “The first order of business will be to teach these kids how to behave at the riflery without giving off a negative or demanding vibe. An example should be coming up at around three...two...one…”

“Gimme that rifle!”

“No way, it’s mine!”

“Stupidhead!”

“Meanie!”

‘Hey, hey, hey, guys,” Victor calls, running over to Yurio and Phichit. Phichit folds his arms.

“It’s not fair, I know you’re gonna yell at me because I’m older, but he started it!”

“Phichit, it’s okay,” says Victor, “I’m going to treat you both equally, here. I just want to help you guys work this out.” 

The three of them converse back and forth until they agree that Yurio can use the rifle today if Phichit can take a quick picture with it first. At the end, he has them both say at least one positive thing about each other. Phichit can’t help smiling in thought.

“You were a pretty good dancer at that talent show last year.”

“Oh - thanks,” Yurio says, taken aback. “Your photos are pretty cool too, I guess.”

“Thank you!” Phichit beams.

Victor nods at that. He knows it won’t necessarily break their ongoing feud, but it’s a start. Yuuri shakes his head in disbelief. He’ll never be able to learn all this in less than two months.

“You see,” Victor says, interrupting his thoughts, “it’s one thing to break up an argument, but it’s another to make them practice empathy and understanding for one-another. Maybe even become friends, if possible.” He laughs. “Now it’s your turn. Walk around and see how everybody’s doing, and try to use positive words. They respond really well to that.”

Yuuri nods, a smile barely gracing his face. He knows he’s taking this a bit more seriously than he’s supposed to, but he can’t help himself. He wants to prove it to everyone that he can be serious. He _is_ serious. He is a serious, hard-working counselor who will create daily schedules and follow them to a tee - wait, no, that’s not what they want. They want someone more fun and outgoing, like Victor. Someone who is spontaneous and unafraid to take on a challenge, but - didn’t Yurio reprimand him for trying to be like that?

Yuuri cards his fingers through his hair. This is so hard. What do they expect from him?!

Taking a deep breath, he tries to sort the steps through his mind. Let’s see, it was walk around, act positive, _then_ what? Only, Victor never gave him specific instructions on what to do afterwards. Even now he seems to be laughing with the occasional “How’s it going?” and high fives. He realizes with horror that he may be on his own.

Just then, he sees Minami out of the corner of his eye, laughing and talking to one of the other campers. The way he points his gun makes Yuuri nervous. Suppose his finger were to slip on the trigger, unintentionally firing a bullet into the other boy’s leg.

_He could see it now, the boy’s cry in pain as the sharp metal penetrated the skin. Blood pouring out after it hits a vein or an artery or some other important blood-carrier within the body. Victor and some of the other counselors screaming at Yuuri for not being more careful, for not being more responsible, for not smiling enough even in times of peril. Yuuri trying to call the ambulance before they tell him how stupid he is and refuse to come. Yuuri having to carry the boy several miles to the hospital on piggy-back as his face grows grey and weary. Life slowly leaving the body of what was said to be an active, healthy ten-year-old before any of this happened..._

Minami’s brief finger twitch is enough to sound off the alarms in his head. He runs up and grabs him forcefully by the wrist, crying,

“Stop it! That’s loaded!”

The other campers grow silent at this outburst, though some gasp quietly. Even Minami has stopped smiling. Yuuri’s eyes dart back and forth among the campers’ blank faces as he wishes for temporary invisibility. Victor furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head.

“You good?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Yuuri chuckles nervously, in a weak attempt to prove it. From not far off, two counselors whisper among themselves.

“Did you see that?”

“He scared the pants off that little kid.”

“If he ever wants to be a counselor here, good luck to him. That’s all _I_ gotta say.”

“Amen.”

Victor silently glares at them in order to drive them away, but it’s too late –

Yuuri already heard.

***

That afternoon, as much as Yuuri would like to sleep, he can’t. The obvious reason would be that he, Victor and the kids are on a hike. The less obvious one he’d rather not tell, so it builds up all day, worsening his state of mind.

The after-effects from the sugar high are starting to get to him too, he realizes, as his head pounds and his spine bends more and more under the weight of his travel backpack. He watches the backs of the kids with contempt. How is it they’re able to make their way up like a pair of mountain goats while he trudges along like a broken-down caboose _every time_?

“Alright, Yuuri?” Victor calls behind him once again.

“Unh,” is his monosyllabic reply as he gives yet another thumbs up. Victor smiles before turning around and scaling a giant boulder as if it were nothing. Yuuri grunts. Yeah, he hates him, too.

Every second, it feels as though they’re getting further away from him. It’s almost like they don’t want to bother with him anymore. That they know he’s falling behind.

“Here, why don’t we take a break at this stream?” says Victor. The kids nod, then scatter to talk amongst themselves or drink from their water bottles.

That’s unusual. They haven’t stopped to take a break once the whole time and now that they’re halfway up the mountain they just suddenly stop. Yuuri narrows his eyes.

It’s because he’s weak, right?

He knew it.

He can hear them laughing under their breaths, thinking in their heads about how slow and pathetic he is. He thinks about what those two counselors said. They’ve discovered how worthless he is. And now they know the truth, they’ll no longer have any use for him.

_The kids aren't slowing down anytime soon. In fact, their footsteps have grown faster. Yurio calls him fatso, and they place bets on when he’ll fall and start rolling down the mountain. One wrong step could send him tumbling. Yuuri trips over a tree root for the millionth time, sweat coating his face, and the kids laugh at him in mockery. Victor joins in with their laughter, then sneers about how foolish he was to think they were actually friends. Yeah, right. A pathetic loser like him? No way. And then leaving him alone on the mountain, and though he tries to call an emergency hotline, all lines are dead. And even if he does survive, the camp director will be sending him packing, telling him to go back to Japan, that his services are no longer needed. And he’ll be lost and cold and alone and without money..._

Yuuri tries to catch his breath, but the travel backpack’s straps are wrapped tight around his stomach. His hands shake as he tries to undo them, but to no avail. He digs his nails into his face. He’s going to die here: a horrible, embarrassing death. He can feel his breathing getting worse, as though he were limited to only a straw. Already his vision has gone dark, though it could be from the hands covering his eyes.

Victor is in the middle of chatting with one of the campers when he sees Yuuri curling in on himself. “What’s wrong?” He rushes over to him. “Yuuri, what’s wrong?" he repeats, being careful not to touch him. Yuuri doesn’t answer. He can’t - he’s hyperventilating.

Victor looks behind real quick to check if the other campers seem alright. Luckily, they are. He turns back to Yuuri. “Come on, let’s go for a walk,” he says, leading him towards the woods.

They end up in a quiet corner with a bubbling creek and rustling green leaves. Yuuri would marvel over how beautiful it is, if he could only calm down. Victor stands in front of him with a firm look. “Yuuri. Do some stretches for me. Lift your arms over your head.” Yuuri shakes his head in frustration.

 _Dumbass._ This isn’t a panic attack, this is an anxiety attack at its peak! There is a difference! But his heightened stress levels don’t allow him to say this, so he continues whimpering.

“Yuuri, why aren’t you stretching?” Victor’s stern voice cuts through his thoughts. God, his voice is scary.

“No,” Yuuri’s surprised he can even talk, given his current situation. He waves his arms in front of his chest. “N-N-Not-!”

“ _Oh,_ ” Victor says, nodding suddenly, “I get the two confused sometimes, I’m sorry. That must be why I’m not of much help right now.” Yuuri would laugh if he could.

“You’re doing great,” he chokes out, in-between heavy breaths. Which reminds Victor of something –

“You have techniques, right?”

Yuuri nods, then proceeds to gain control of the situation.

First, he breathes in to the count of four, then out at the same rate. This continues for a while. Next, he looks for some stimulus related to the five senses. He lists five things he can see.

 _Hmm… leaves, the sun, a flower, a mushroom…_ He smiles. _Victor…_

Now four he can touch. He walks around the forest, breathing at a somewhat steady pace now, and touches a blade of grass, tree bark, rushing water from the creek...then turns around and walks back to Victor, pulling him close for an embrace.

“Eh - Yuuri?” Victor mutters, surprised by the contact. Once it is clear Yuuri is not going anywhere, he tentatively wraps his arms around his waist. “This is okay?” he whispers. Yuuri nods.

Three he can hear. Yuuri listens to the sounds of birds singing in the distance. He is just tall enough to hear Victor’s heartbeat, which has a quickened pace in contrast with his deep, steady voice. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay,” it says over and over again.

Two he can smell. There’s no doubt the bug spray he’s wearing is on that list. Strong, pungent. He buries his nose in Victor’s shirt and breathes in. His fingers curl. Cinnamon and honey-jasmine cologne, with just a hint of champagne and soap from that morning’s shower. Sweet, woodsy...very Eros.

All that’s left is one thing to taste. In the past, he kept some pocket candy with him or a cough drop at the least, but neither made it on the journey to America. His eyes widen. There’s nothing to taste, which means he’ll probably never get better now, so he almost becomes hysterical again.

Luckily, Victor offers him a peppermint.

They stand there, hugging in silence, until Yuuri’s breathing has evened. Victor subconsciously combs his hand through Yuuri’s hair while he says,

“W-When I was younger, this would happen in school. Whenever I got overwhelmed, I asked my teachers if I could be dismissed to get a drink of water and they usually let me go. But this one teacher wouldn’t and always kept the door closed, so I ended up freaking out in class for about an hour. During that time, he yelled at me to ‘man up’ and said that I was scaring all the other students. I don’t think he had any idea of what exactly I was going through.”

He clutches onto Victor’s shoulder blades, shaking, yet stubborn. He won’t cry. He refuses to cry. Not like he did that terrible day. Victor rests his cheek on top of his head.

“God, you’re so strong,” he whispers. Yuuri swears for a moment he can feel a brush of lips against his hair, but he doesn’t count on it. For all he knows, it could just be his anxiety trying to rile him up again.

Meanwhile, Yuko and the girls see them from far away. They are just about to comment on how cute they look together when they realize –

This is one moment they don’t need to interrupt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about putting a trigger warning before this, but I figured you guys expected/could handle it. 
> 
> If that’s not the case, please let me know, but just FYI I usually don’t unless it’s murder, graphic or something like that.


	8. Chapter 8

Ever since that day on the mountain, Yuuri and Victor have grown close. In fact, it can even be argued that they were born Siamese twins in another life, which Yurio is quick to point out.

“You morons hang out with each other more than you do with us.”

They can’t help but chuckle. After all, it’s true.

One morning, Leo looks out the window. He expects to be greeted with sunlight only to find water droplets and shades of grey and dark green.

“Well, there go our outdoor plans,” he chuckles. The kids grumble.

“But we were supposed to play frisbee golf today!”

“No fair!”

“I like the rain. How like diamonds and jewels…” Gee starts, but his poetic prose gets interrupted by Yurio.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit!”

Victor shoots him a warning look.

“We can still go outside, can’t we?” Minami says, looking up at Victor. His face softens at the kid’s adorable determination.

“I’m afraid not, sorry. They just put in a new rule that we’re not allowed to go outside when it’s raining because of the risk for strong winds and thunder and lightning.”

 _And_ cue the further complaints:

“What do they think we are, babies?”

“Aw, that’s stupid!”

“I know. It’s camping policy, though, and I can’t get in trouble like last year. Remember when I took you guys tightrope walking over that huge waterfall? There was a safety net and it was only sprinkling out, but I almost lost my job.” The kids’ shoulders slump.

“So we can’t go out, then.”

“This is so lame!”

“Ugh, _now_ what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” Victor says honestly.

Already, kids have started sprawling across the floor or staring at their phones in a zombie-like fashion. As more and more of them pick up their electronic devices and sigh out of boredom, Victor’s fingers crawl further through his hair. “I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t have anything else planned for today. I don’t know what to do.”

“Not to worry!” Yuuri interrupts, entering the room. “I checked the weather last night and saw that it was going to rain, so I made a fun schedule of things to do!” He grins at everybody, waiting for all their reactions, but gets nothing. Sweat rolls down his face. He knew it. This was a bad idea –

“That’s awesome!” says Phichit.

“Way to go, Ocean!” Minami agrees.

Soon, other kids join in, commending Yuuri for his efforts. He looks out the corner of the eye to see Victor wearing a thoughtful expression before it melts into one of the biggest smiles he has seen thus far. It fills him up with warmth to see.

The first event - everyone’s favorite -  is blind tag, in which the ‘it’ must leave the room to count. When they come back, the lights are off and everybody hides. Once they are discovered, they have to run away to avoid being ‘it’. It is essentially hide-and-seek-tag in the dark. The only thing is, there aren’t many spaces to hide. Beds are too obvious. Closets a no-go. You can’t even go outside. And yet some of these places are occupied anyway. 

Victor and Yuuri hide crouched, one behind the other, behind the curtains. It was Yuuri’s idea, and Victor had none of his own, so he joined. It’s a less obvious place than the other ones, which is good.

...Or _would_ be good, if Victor would leave him alone.

“Stop it,” he whispers, voice laced with giggling as Victor pinches his sides. The other doesn’t listen and ends up making a dive for his feet, which makes him laugh even more.  _“Victor!”_

“Shhhh.” Victor puts a playful finger on his lips. “We don’t want to get discovered, now, do we?”

“And whose fault would _that_ be?”

Victor shrugs.

“It’s not like I can do much else in such a tiny space. I’m practically crammed in here. I tell you what, though,” he says, voice dropping an octave, “You have a really nice butt.”

Blood rushes to Yuuri’s ears.

“W-W-Wha - !” Victor laughs.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Yuuri whips his head around and the other keeps laughing until it dies down. Then he tilts his head, having noticed something. “God, you’re so red right now.”

“I am?” Yuuri looks down, as though trying to see his own flushed cheeks. Victor’s expression has molded into one of curiosity as he reaches out a pale, piano-fingered hand. Yuuri finds himself backing away, though he’s slightly intrigued at the same time –

“Found you!” Gee says, pulling aside the curtains.

“Shit,” Victor blurts before covering his mouth immediately. Yuuri would laugh, only he’s already running.

Gee chases them throughout the cabin, among a few other kids. Yuuri squints at his friend beside him in the dark, observing.

Victor reminds him of a cheetah. Once he gets started, he can cover a long distance in a short amount of time, especially given his long legs. But because he’s so fast, he is quicker to wear out. Yuuri, on the other hand, has more endurance, despite going at a jogging pace. Gee is a deadly combination of the both of them. He can run really fast like Victor, but he hasn’t shown any signs of exhaustion yet. He could probably beat a professional 100-yard dash runner. And he’s only twelve!

Finally, he closes in, hooking Victor’s shirt with his finger and inadvertently making him fall. Gee’s hands fly to his mouth, his face a flushed red color.

“My sincerest apologies, Vkusno! Are you okay?” Victor rubs his head, looking up at him in wonder.

“My goodness, Gee. How is it you’re so fast?” Gee giggles.

“I bike three miles to and from school everyday.”

“No way, me too!” says Leo. “I like to listen to R&B and rap on my way.” Gee smiles, shrugging.

“I prefer classical music, but that’s just me.” Leo laughs.

“Hey, it’s cool. I like _all_ music. It’s such a beautiful thing.”

“Yes, extraordinary.”

The two of them proceed to have an intelligent conversation beyond their years, Gee lighting up more than he has these past few weeks. Victor and Yuuri smile knowingly.

He has a friend.

They play a couple more rounds of blind tag. Gee slays this game. He not only outraces the kids when he’s ‘it’ – he’s also a champion hider. Eventually, the kids tire of being outsmarted and move on to other things. Minami brought a playground parachute, which the kids use to play games. There’s also cards and puzzles and telling stories about what rain means to them. And the best part? Not one kid turns to their phones. Not even tech-savvy Phichit.

Later, Yurio comes up to him, looking at the ground.

“Don’t think of this as a compliment - because it’s _not!_ But… I kinda sorta maybe possibly had a little bit of fun today.” Yuuri chuckles.

“Thanks, Yurio.” Just then, he feels a small pinch on his butt. He yelps, jumping, before turning around to see Victor, innocent as can be.

“Problem?” he says, waggling his eyebrows. Yuuri scoffs.

“You’re unbelievable.”

*** 

Leo looks out the window the next morning, greeted with the sight of blue skies and the sun casting shadows of light on the wall. He smiles.

“Now that’s more _like_ it.” The kids cheer.

“Alright, now we can go kayaking!”

“Yeah, or canoeing!”

“Actually, guys,” Victor says, interrupting them, “I scheduled us to go rock-climbing today. It starts at ten, so let’s get a move on.” He claps his hands together, smiling, while everybody looks confused. Yurio especially.

“Hey, asshole, what’s up with the organized planning? That’s not like you.” Victor ignores the curse word and looks towards Yuuri.

“Let’s just say I was inspired.” He winks.

Yuuri’s heart thumps in his chest. Here, he thought he would have to buy a notebook and take notes from Victor, when it turns out _Victor_ was taking notes from _him._

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself. It’s your fault we have to do this,” Yurio sneers. Yuuri waves it off.

“Aw, c’mon, it’ll be fun.” He looks in Victor’s direction and winks, and boy is he surprised to see the flush of color on Victor’s own cheeks. 

The boys make their way over to the climbing wall. It stands at thirty feet, made of solid oak, with colorful hand and footholds littered all over it. It has three faces: easy, medium, and hard. And, of course, what do the kids pick?

“I want the hard one!” they cry. Yuuri opens his mouth to speak, then decides not to.

 _Stay positive,_ he thinks.

This has become his latest mantra after that meltdown on the mountain. Even when the kids are off-schedule. Even when hiking seems difficult that day. Even when Yurio has just now challenged him to a rock-climbing contest and they are both putting on their harnesses and helmets, about to climb up –

Wait, _what?_

“Now, as soon as I say ‘On belay’, you must repeat back, ‘Belay on’. Then, when you’re both ready, say ‘Ready to climb’, and we’ll say, ‘Climb away!’. Our volunteers,” Victor says, referring to Phichit, Leo, Minami and Gee, “will hold the ropes and lower them when necessary. For that, you must say ‘Ready to lower’ and we’ll say ‘Lower away!’.” He turns to the other with shining eyes. “Good for you for taking him on, Yuuri. You are so brave!”

Yuuri chuckles nervously. He doesn’t remember agreeing to _any_ of this.

“On belay!” says Yurio.

“Belay on!” The kids give a thumbs up. Yurio turns to Yuuri, getting in his face.

“You’re going _down_ , pig.”

“Good...sportsmanship?” Yuuri offers weakly. Yurio grunts.

“Ready to climb!” he calls.

“Climb away!”

Yurio lets out a yell and scrambles towards the climbing wall, scaling some of the holds. Meanwhile, Yuuri has just barely blinked.

“Yeah, you just go right ahead!” he calls, “I’ll catch up.” He huffs and steps on one of the footholds, hoisting himself up.

Now Yuuri has never climbed a wall before, but there were plenty of ladders on which he could practice beforehand. Funny thing about living in an ancient ninja house - there are a variety of obstacles. In fact, if one turned enough corners, they could find the training room in which the ninjas practiced. And while he’s sure they were far more stealthy than him, Yuuri has the advantage of living in the house for all his life, so he knows more about how they work. He uses this knowledge to grip the holds a certain way and strategize on where to go. Little by little, he catches up with Yurio.

“Hey! Get off my back!” the small Russian says.

Yuuri doesn’t say anything in reply, only looking up in determination.

Yurio growls and climbs further up, only for Yuuri to close in on him again. Yurio tries to climb up the chimney, only to get stuck. Yuuri shakes his head. _Baka._ Doesn’t he know his legs are too short?

Yuuri climbs past the other with ease as he struggles, growling at him.

Soon, they reach just over twenty feet. By that time, Yurio has caught up and is just a little ahead of him.

Yuuri is getting tired. His limbs start shaking, making it hard for him to get a proper grip. The holds are already slippery from the rain overnight, not to mention the amount of sweat covering his palms and the breeze blowing around his ankles, ready to knock him over any minute. He looks down at his friends, now toy-sized, then rests his forehead on the wall, anxiety mounting.

“I can’t do this…”

“Yes, you can! Come on, Yuuri!” says Minami.

“Yeah, c’mon, Ocean, one more step!” Phichit agrees.

“You better keep going or else, moron!” Yurio cheers in his own little way.

One by one, the kids encourage him to keep going. Yuuri groans. There’s no way out of this, now.

He sees a tiny bell at the top and envisions a pork cutlet bowl. Licking his lips, he searches for a possible foothold. He sees one a couple feet away from him. Everyone gasps as he does a near split before reaching for the notch above him and lifting himself up. Adrenaline pumping in his ears, he places one hand on the edge of the top and rings the tiny bell with the other.

He’s done it!

“Alright! Way to go, Ocean!”

“Yeah, man, way to hang in there!”

“What the hell?” Yurio says to himself. Then, glaring up, “”How did you beat me?!” Yuuri only shrugs, which frustrates him more.

He gives the signal to lower away and he makes his way down the wall. Once he reaches the ground, everybody surrounds him with cheers, including Victor. His face is red and exhausted, but his eyes are sparkling.

“I never thought I’d do that in a million years.” Victor smiles.

“You’re stronger than you know.”

***

For the rest of the afternoon, Victor brags about Yuuri’s climbing skills to everyone he sees while Yuuri walks beside him, face beet-red. He’s never been more humiliated in all his life. At the same time, however, he can’t help smiling. If Victor were to visit Japan someday, he’d have quite the culture shock. There, people are not really well-known for their bragging, even if it’s praise. They might be impressed by his recent Japanese-speaking skills, though. After all, not every foreigner could do that.

“Red.”

 _“Aka,”_ says Victor.

“Yellow.”

 _“Ki.”_ Yuuri grins.

“Dark purple.”

_“Komurasaki.”_

“Darn, I thought I had you, there!”

They laugh, turning towards the campfire ring they are now sitting around. It's a nice night for a fire. One of the best this camp has ever had, as evidenced by the amount of people who showed up. 

Across the way, Yuuri can see one of the Little Cubs making her way over to Georgi. His face softens when he notices who’s tugging on his shirt. "Here you go, hon," he says, handing her a marshmallow. He watches with fondness as she skips back to her spot by the fire. Yuko gives him a friendly elbow.

"Wow, Georgi, you seem to be getting along with them quite well now! I'm impressed," she says.

" _Da._ It took a while, but I think I've finally earned their respect."

Across the way, a blond boy whispers to a pig-tailed girl and she giggles out loud.

Georgi furrows his brow then moves to get up, but hears a creak as something heavy pulls at his bottom. "Who glued me to this log?!"

Everyone roars with laughter, but the Little Cubs are the loudest.

"Log Butt! Log Butt! We're gonna call you Log Butt!"

Georgi growls. Then the corners of his lips quirk up, as if he just thought of something.

"You know what's worse than being called 'log butt'?"

The kids look at each other in confusion before he continues, 

"It's getting _sat_ on by a log butt! _C'mere_!"

" _Ohhhhh!_ " everyone shouts, clapping their hands as he gives chase around the campfire ring.

"Run, he's got you!" Chris says, laughing. The kids giggle like mad, dodging him, as he attempts to grab them but falls face-first instead. Some of the Wild Explorers even join in.

"Hey Log Butt, chase me too!"

"Yeah, me too!"

Georgi's face looks pissed, but his eyes are amused.

Yuuri laughs, then looks down and realizes his and Victor's hands have interlaced. Embarrassed, he's about to pull away when he feels a small tug. He looks up to see Victor smiling at him, pulling their hands closer together. He smiles back, blissfully unaware of the several figures grinning in unison.

“It’s a sign, girls,” says Yuko. “Operation Date #2 is a go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I kinda made Georgi the butt of a Camp Rock 2 reference-joke - 
> 
> Sorry not sorry! X-D


	9. Chapter 9

The next day is the Fourth of July, which, from what Yuuri hears, is an important holiday in American history. All around, he sees the counselors putting up streamers and pinwheels, covering tablecloths with red white and blue fabric. He wonders what is the best way to go about celebrating this holiday.

“Hey, Lion,” he says, walking up to Leo, “what is this day, exactly?”

Leo smiles and takes out his headphones.

“Well, here we call it ‘Fourth of July’, but it’s really more of an American Independence Day.”

“‘Independence Day’?” Yuuri furrows his brow in confusion. Leo laughs.

“It’s where we celebrate our separation from other countries that ruled in the past. This year it’s all the more special since it’s the 240th anniversary.” Yuuri scratches his head.

“We’ve never done anything like that in Japan.”

“That’s alright. _Lots_ of countries don’t have an independence day. Chris is the only other one here who celebrates, but his is on the first of August.”

“We do have a national day,” Yuuri offers. “Every country has one, right?”

“All but Britain and Denmark. The former we declared independence from, by the way.”

“What are you two chatting about?” Victor says, friendly curiosity in his voice as he wraps an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder. Leo smiles.

“Hey, Vkusno! We were just talking about Independence Day and what it means to us.”

“Hm…” Victor puts a finger on his lips. “We only recently got one in the 90s – I must’ve been in kindergarten. It’s not from another country, though. We actually declared it from ourselves.” He laughs. “But the way I see it, it’s always been about culture and pride. Is that what you get out of it, Lion?”

“Well, in some ways, yes. But it means a bit more, coming from a Mexican-American. You see, I celebrate _two_ independence days.”

Yuuri and Victor listen in wonder, as well as some other kids who have started to gather around.

“It’s always been funny, growing up. On one hand, you have the country you’ve lived in all your life and on the other you have your entire heritage. Of course, Mexican Independence Day is not as celebrated in the United States as Cinco de Mayo. It gets confused with that holiday all the time.” He chuckles. “But when you go down to Mexico like my family does every year, it’s a whole different story. Schools, businesses and banks all closed, festivities in the streets, food and flowers everywhere, everyone waving their flags and shouting, ‘¡Viva la Independencia!’...sometimes you don’t know which side to cheer for more.”

“So which one do you like more, Leo?” Gee asks. Leo laughs at that.

“Both, of course! For me, it’s always been about opportunity. America and Mexico made a choice to become their own nations, just as my parents made a choice to live here. They were the ones who told me it was okay to like both, because in the end, they each celebrate freedom. No matter where I live when I grow up, both countries will always hold a special place in my heart.”

“Wow,” Victor whispers. He hears some sniffling sounds next to him and turns his head.

“What are _you_ looking at? I’m not crying!” says Yurio, wiping his eyes.

Afterwards, Yuuri gets inspired and asks everyone else what this day means to them. Gee says the “throes of justice”, Phichit says liberty, Yurio says food, and Minami says happiness and friends.

Yuuri eyes the table on which the food has been placed. Hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, pies, beans, chips, watermelon and corn. Plus a few other foods from different countries that don’t look too bad either. He can feel his mouth watering from all the grilled smells. No wonder Yurio said the food was important.

But as the day winds to an end and everybody gets out the sparklers to dance around with them, Yuuri finds his own interpretation of this day. To him, it means unification. Not only did the countries fighting for independence unite in the past - everyone here was united today, in the camp. All the normal teasing that would go down - all the drama between Anya and Georgi - has temporarily disappeared, if only for the celebration.

“Hey, Yuuri, look! I can write your name with the sparkler,” says Victor, laughing. He glides his hand through the air, and sure enough, when Yuuri closes his eyes, he sees it among the messy backwards cursive. He smiles.

_Oh, Victor._

_***_

“Is this where we were supposed to meet?” Yuuri asks on his walkie-talkie.

“Yeah. I don’t recall putting it on our schedule, though,” says Victor. “I mean, why would I sign us up for a ‘Summer Banquet’? The food in the cafeteria is already good.” Yuuri giggles.

“Maybe you were in the mood for something fancy.”

“It could be. I’m the forgetful type, so you never know.” He can feel Victor shrugging on the other side. His face lights up upon seeing something.

“Okay, seriously, come here, quick. You have _got_ to see this.”

“I’m making my way over, don’t be so impatient,” he laughs, before stopping in his tracks.

There, in front of them, sits a white-clothed card table with strung lights above and wildflowers and candles as a centerpiece. Two wooden chairs sit across from one-another and all the food is on a bench. Greek this time, with lamb meatballs, potatoes covered in lemon sauce, goat cheese, salad assortments and bread. Two china plates and fine silverware rest on the table, waiting to be adorned with them.

“Well, whoever it is, at least they remembered the wine this time,” says Victor.

They burst out laughing.

True to their word, there’s a teal bucket sitting on the bench with glass bottles and ice cubes inside. Victor pours himself a glass and reaches across to do the same for Yuuri.

“Not too much, thank you,” he says, cutting it off at about halfway. Victor chuckles.

“You’re not a lightweight, are you?”

“No, I’m actually the opposite – I just want to behave.” Victor laughs at that and Yuuri chuckles along, but he’s also serious. He can’t afford any repeats of last year’s New Year’s party...

But now Victor’s face looks inquisitive, so Yuuri decides to smoothly change the subject before they can get to _that_ topic. “Is this a date?” he can’t help asking before his hand flies to his mouth in realization. Well, so much for subtlety.

Victor looks up at him, eyes no longer crinkling in amusement.

“Do you want it to be?”

If Yuuri didn’t know any better, he would say that sounded almost hopeful. Even so, the sudden seriousness of the atmosphere throws him off-guard.

“Well, I-I dunno.” He scratches his head. “Friends go on dates all the time.”

“That is true.” Victor’s voice sounds cold.

Yuuri’s face burns. All this time, he’s been thinking so much about his feelings for Victor, he hasn’t considered the possibility that the other could harbor some sort of feelings for him. Sure, he flirts a lot and is always touching him, but he’d figured that was just a cultural difference. At one point, he thought they would never go further than being really good friends. Now, he’s not so sure.

“No, no, this can’t be how it ends!” Mila whines, watching from the bushes.

“Be quiet, they’ll hear us,” Yuko hisses.

Sure enough, Yuuri looks towards the woods with a suspicious look on his face. Luckily, his napkin falls, prompting him to lean over and pick it up.

The two eat their dinner in awkward silence when out of the blue, Victor starts chuckling.

“This is a bit too extravagant for me. What say we get away?”

Without hearing Yuuri’s answer, he promptly drags him by the wrist. Yuuri has no idea what’s happening. Even the girls are confused.

“Huh? Where are they going?”

“They’ve barely touched my potato salad!”

Victor leads him to a small rental car in the parking lot and gestures for him to get in. He does. Then Victor hops into the driver’s seat, starts the car, and backs out onto the road. Yuuri asks him where they're going, but the other only shakes his head.

They ride along the route for awhile, in silence once more, before parking near what looks like a small path in the woods. Yuuri nods in understanding. He knows where they are now.

On the days when Victor wasn’t teaching archery and Yuuri wasn’t taking the kids on nature hikes, they liked to visit the cliff by the seaside. There, they would sit and chat for hours about the camp, the kids, anything that came to mind.

They arrive at the edge, rocks painted red by the sunset and seagulls crying above.

“This is one of my favorite parts about this place,” Victor says, pointing up. “I’m halfway around the world, and yet the seagulls sound just like the ones at home.”

Yuuri hums in agreement, sitting down and looking out towards the ocean. Bright orange streaks light the sky, and the ocean looks like jagged turquoise. The sun’s reflection is like a candle on the water. He can see its soft shadows reflecting on his friend’s face out of the corner of his eye. It’s so familiar, yet so new, at the same time. He sighs in contentment, almost unaware of the other crouching next to him.

“Why are you staring?” Victor laughs. “You’ve seen this view many times before.”

“I can’t help it. It’s so beautiful,” he says. Victor cracks up again.

“But why?” He shrugs.

“I dunno. Summer sunset, I guess.“ But in his head, he thinks, _Because you’re here to see it with me._

“Yeah…” Victor trails off, voice growing quiet. Their eyes meet and Yuuri’s cheeks flare up. He’s seen Victor’s eyes before, but never at this distance. His irises are like light blue kaleidoscopes pulling him ever closer into the void of the unknown. And yet, it intrigues him, all the same. He’s so entranced by the power of his eyes, the sunlight reflecting off of them, that he hardly notices when they begin to shut, lips parting as though to whisper something…

Until a large wave crashes, spraying them both with salty mist and making them back away in surprise. They look at each other’s wet clothes and laugh.

***

Yuuri can’t shake off the feeling that something’s going on. It’s not just Victor’s latest super-friendly temperament towards him, either. The girls are acting strangely. He figured they were up to something - he just hasn’t found out what.

Then, one day, when he and Victor end up on yet another ‘friend date’, it clicks. They are in the middle of ceramics, taking turns spinning the pottery wheel, when Yuuri notices it’s not on their schedule. Not only that, but the place they were supposed to be was scribbled out in red ink. And there was only one person he knew who wrote in red ink in _this_ campsite.

“Yuko,” he says, before rushing out of the building, leaving a confused Victor behind. He looks around for a group of girls and finds them chatting by the volleyball court. He walks up to them, clearing his throat. They stop laughing and turn to him. Yuko smiles.

“Hey, Yuuri! What’s up?”

“I know what you’re up to,” he says, and he swears, their smiles never disappeared faster. “That you’re the ones sending Victor and me on all these dates. I appreciate the help, I really do, but I would rather our relationship progress naturally. It’s better for us that way.” Their shoulders slumped.

“We’re sorry,” says Anya.

“You’re right,” says Mila.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Yuuri continues, “I’ll still need your advice. After all, this is all fairly new to me.”

The girls nod in agreement.

That, they can do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blast! Foiled! *snaps fingers*
> 
> ...You know what would be really cute? A fic about Ninja Yuuri falling in love with Samurai Victor. Would someone please write that?


	10. Chapter 10

Yuko, Mila and Anya all sit around the campfire ring, looking dismayed. Almost as if their one life purpose has been destroyed.

“I can’t believe he figured us out,” says Mila.

“ _Now_ what are we supposed to do?” says Anya.

“Hi, guys!” Minami greets, waving excitedly. Then, smile fading, “What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Happy,” Yuko sighs, small smile on her face, “Yuuri found out we were trying to set him up with Victor, so now he’s preventing us from putting them on anymore dates.” Minami shrugs.

“Oh. I always assumed they were together.”

“Me too,” Phichit adds, walking up to them. Yurio gags.

“Those morons can’t keep their hands off each other!”

“ _Really?_ ” says Mila. He nods.

“The way they demonstrate PDA when they think we’re not looking. It’s so gross!”

“Oh my goodness, I thought we were the only ones who had a clue!” Yuko cries in delight. Phichit furrows his brow.

“Huh? I thought _everybody_ in the camp knew.”

“Who says they don’t?” Chris interrupts. “Those two _radiate_ pure lust, and that’s coming from _me._ ”

“ _Da._ I know what love looks like, and that’s definitely it,” Georgi agrees, winking at Anya and unaware of her rolling eyes.

“Hopefully they get together soon,” says Leo, arm wrapped around Gee’s shoulder, “the suspense is killing me.”

“Yeah, me too,” says Gee.

The girls laugh.

Well, at least they're not alone.

***

One week, there is a sweltering heat wave. Where Yuuri lives, the temperature has never risen above 35° C. Here, it goes above and beyond.

He wakes up every morning covered in a pool of sweat. Even in the afternoon, when the temperature has gone down a bit, the humidity still chokes him daily, to the point where his eyes are actually watering.

“Yuuri, are you alright?” Yuko asks, turning to him. He nods, panting.

He can’t let the sun get to him now, on his and Yuko’s kids’ combined nature walk. But oh, the way it beats down upon his head, running down his neck – it’s pure torture.

Nausea crawls up his throat, heart pounding alongside the ringing in his ears, which is surprising, given the easiness of the walk. He wipes at his face with a handkerchief Victor gave him earlier, but to no avail. He can feel his body shriveling like a raisin, lips cracking like desert sand. His vision blurs in front of him, and when combined with the sunlight, it creates a rainbow-y effect. A small smile graces his face. Wow. Maybe he’s actually going to pass out. Wouldn’t that be funny…

A small laugh escapes his lips before sudden drowsiness overtakes him and he falls towards the ground. The last thing he sees is a pale, blurred hand reaching out for him and Yuko and Victor collectively crying, “Yuuri!”

***

For a while, everything is dark. At one point he recalls his body moving, but he doesn’t know how, or who's helping him. Every sound is a blur.

Then, something damp and rough presses against his forehead. His eyelashes flutter at the cold against his hot, flushed skin. Confused and slightly ill, his eyes snap open and he sits up, nearly getting a head rush in the process.

“Huh? Where am I? Where are the kids?”

“They’re fine, don’t worry,” Yuko says, gently pushing him back down. “Anya took them with her girls to the baseball field to play Capture the Flag. They’ll be back for dinner.”

“Good,” Yuuri says, heart rate slowing down. Yuko chuckles.

“Victor was so worried about you. He carried you all the way back.”

“Really?”

She nods and continues pressing something cold against his face. Yuuri realizes it’s a red cloth.

Her eyebrows knit together. “Huh. I’ve been doing this for almost an hour, but you don’t seem to be getting any cooler. Hey, Victor,” she calls, “Yuuri’s awake now, if you want to check on him!” Never in Yuuri’s life has he heard more hurried footsteps.

Yuko turns to him, grinning.

“I’ll leave you two alone now.” She winks. Yuuri groans, too tired to argue that they’re not actually together.

Once she leaves, he sees Victor walk in with slight bags under his eyes and hair messier than usual.

He still looks beautiful, of course.

“Yuuri, how are you? Do you need anything?” he says, sounding not-unlike a concerned husband. Yuuri looks at his watch, realizes it’s three in the afternoon, and reaches his arm out in an attempt to stop the other.

“V-Victor, you’re going to miss archery – ”

“Nonsense,” he hushes him, “for you I’ve got all day.” Yuuri smiles.

Victor sits on the edge of the bed and studies Yuuri closely, tilting his head. “You look kinda hot,” he says. Yuuri blushes at the implication, then brushes it aside. It’s not what he thinks. He’s sick. _Duh._ Though, from the way Victor’s winking at him, he’d swear he can hear his thoughts. “I’m going to check your temperature, okay?” He pats his knee, gets up and pulls an old-looking box with a thermometer label on it off the shelf. Yuuri’s eyebrows rise to his hairline at the amount of dirt and dust.

“Are you sure that’s sanitary?”

Victor laughs.

“I was a bit skeptical looking at it as well. Maybe we shouldn’t use this.” He puts the thermometer box aside and sits back on the edge of the bed. Yuuri’s brows furrow.

“ _Now_ how will we check my temperature?” Victor thinks for a minute. Then –

“Hold still.” He leans in towards Yuuri’s face.

“Wha-? Victor – ”

“Hold still, okay?” His voice is firm, but his movements are gentle as he smooths his hair out of his eyes. He places his hands near his temples and leans forward, grazing his lips against his forehead, not quite kissing him, just resting them there. The gesture is oddly soothing, despite hot breath washing over hot skin. Yuuri’s eyes flutter at the touch. After a short beat he pulls away and whispers, “It’s definitely in the one hundred range, maybe 102. I’ll go get you some soup.”

He prods his nose and walks out of the room. Yuuri rolls his eyes. Even when one of them is sick, he still can’t help being a flirt.

Yuuri sighs, staring up at the ceiling. A raging headache pounds its way through his skull, most likely from dehydration. He thinks about how soft the other’s lips were to temporarily distract himself.

Not even half an hour later, Victor returns carrying what looks like a can of chicken noodle soup, top completely mangled and broth spilling out the sides.

“Er, sorry,” he chuckles, scratching his head, “I heated this for one minute on high but it left kind of a mess in the microwave. I forgot you can’t heat soup at that temperature or it’ll explode. So then I put some ice cubes in it which helped cool it down, but the noodles are sort of soggy and the broth tastes like wet socks.” His shoulders slump. “I must be the worst cook in the world.”

Yuuri laughs.

“Why are you laughing? I just ruined your soup,” Victor says, in a voice not unlike a whine. By now, Yuuri’s sides are nearly splitting, he’s laughing so hard.

“Cute,” he manages to utter before taking the soup and gulping it down, soggy noodles and all. Though, with the pout forming on Victor’s lip, he’s not sure how he is able to do this without snorting it all out his nose. All it takes is for one eyebrow to rise for Yuuri to crack up again, and poor Victor winds up more confused.

“ _Now_ what’s so funny?”

“Your face,” Yuuri gasps in-between breaths. He swears, this ailment is making him delirious. Victor shakes his head, smiling.

“You don’t make any sense,” he says under his breath, “but you’re adorable anyhow.”

 ***

Yuuri cranes his head to read the alarm clock, which reads twelve AM.

Great, there it is again. The urge to go.

He grunts and gets out of bed, hoping not to wake Victor this time. He really doesn’t think it’s necessary for him to –

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Yuuri nearly jumps out of his skull before turning around at the familiar voice, and sighs with some irritation.

“It’s just the bathroom.”

“Oh, no you don’t - come here.” Without allowing time for Yuuri to protest, Victor sweeps him off his feet and into his arms, bridal-style. He cradles him against his chest, one hand supporting his back and the other using his phone as a flashlight. Yuuri frowns like a small child.

“I can walk by myself, you know,” he says, despite clinging closer to the shirt fabric.

“Ah, so you’re a big boy after all,” Victor chuckles. Yuuri narrows his eyes at that.

“I wish this were contagious so you could catch it and take it down a couple notches.”

Victor laughs.

***

Luckily, by the second day, Yuuri is feeling much better and can get out of bed, which is a relief, since he’s starting to feel guilty about all of Victor’s pampering.

“It’s not a problem,” the other laughs when he mentions this, “I know you’d do the same for me.”

Yuuri decides now is not the best time to tell him that once, when his sister Mari got sick, he put on a surgical mask and patted her back with a broom all week. Anyhow, he has more important things on his mind. Desperate, even.

Night after night, he’s noticed the kids roasting their marshmallows as if it is the most simple task on the planet, while he burns his to a crisp. He wished there were directions on the back for getting that perfect golden glow. The marshmallow companies really missed an opportunity on that one.

That night, after everybody has gone to bed, Yuuri grabs a packet of marshmallows from the shelf and tiptoes outside towards the woods. Luckily, the bonfire hasn’t gone out yet, so he picks up the nearest stick he can find and sits on a log. Inside his pocket he keeps a notepad with him, in case he needs to schedule emergency events, write down anything Victor has to say or, in this case, record observations for this fine marshmallow experiment.

Yuuri tries to recall some of the strategies kids have used in the past. The most memorable one is holding the stick a few inches in front of the fire and rotating it like a rotisserie. And yet, each time, it somehow manages to get caught in the flames. Not to mention, his arm gets tired.

Since he’s unaware of any other techniques, he decides there must be something wrong with the amount of time in seconds, also known as his dependent variable (the independent variable being the golden-ness of the marshmallow, obviously).

He tries holding the marshmallow at different intervals, even changing some constants, like the number of hands holding the stick and the angle at which the stick is held. At one point, he even thought about sticking a thermometer in one of the coal beds so he could determine the glucose within the marshmallow’s highest melting point. Physics, biology, trigonometry – this is getting too complicated. Especially considering they all end up the same: black, sad, and burnt.

Two hours later, on the brink of midnight, with an almost empty bag of marshmallows, Yuuri is about ready to tear his hair out. He doesn’t even blink at the flame-engulfed marshmallow anymore, just watching it with weary, long-suffering eyes. Maybe some things are just meant to remain a mystery.

“What are you _doing?”_ Victor chuckles, making him jump. Yuuri turns around, chin quivering in determination.

“I want to be the best marshmallow-roaster in all of Camp Shining Sun!”

Victor laughs.

“Well, then, you’ll need a better stick. That one’s too thin.” Sure enough, it breaks off and the marshmallow lands in the flames.

Yuuri’s shoulders slump.

Victor chuckles once more at Yuuri’s reaction, then picks up a stick about the width of Yuuri’s pinky finger. He holds it along Yuuri’s arm, which he lifts up by the wrist, before gently sliding his hand down the length of his triceps, biceps, almost like he’s pulling back an arrow. “Arm’s length,” he says, more to himself. “Perfect.” He places the stick in Yuuri’s hand, then continues to guide his arm until the marshmallow stops just short of a flame. Then instead of going above, as Yuuri would expect, the stick aims down towards the coal beds and ashes. As much as Yuuri doesn’t want to interrupt an intimate moment, he can’t deny his raised eyebrows.

“Eh, Victor? What are you doing?”

“I watched you from the window for about an hour before I came out here because I noticed each time, you stuck the marshmallow directly in the flames. There is a much easier way to do all this, which I’m going to show you now,” says Victor. He points out a crevice between two logs. “See how that makes a cave? If you put your marshmallow there, the walls will reflect heat and cook it without actually burning it. I learned all about it when I was training to be a counselor. They call it a ‘hot box’.”

Yuuri nods and mouths a silent “Oh”, even though he doesn’t really understand. Victor catches on and chuckles. “Let me show you.”

He places his hands on top of Yuuri’s and holds the stick between the walls, rotating it every once in awhile. Soon, in the faint glow of the fire, they can see it covered in a crispy, golden-brown coat, smelling not unlike a confectionery dessert.

“Wow. That looks good, Yuuri,” Victor breathes into his ear, making him too flustered to realize he is reaching out for the marshmallow at the same time before he says, “I’ll take that! Thank you!”

“Hey, that’s mine!” Yuuri whines.

“You want it?” Victor says, eyebrows wiggling before he runs off calling, “Come and get it from me!”

“Give it back, Nikiforov!”

Yuuri gives chase and they run through the woods, laughing. He’s gotten faster at running these past few months thanks to Yurio’s spontaneous race challenges, and uses this advantage to catch up to Victor, whose stamina is wearing off. But of course, since neither of them can really see where they’re going, they wind up tripping over a large tree branch that had fallen to the ground prior to their arrival. “Woah!” The two tumble down in a tangle of limbs, but it just-so-happens that they land in a soft patch of ferns, with Victor lying on his back and Yuuri in an awkward position on top of him.

They both continue laughing from the shock of getting the wind knocked out of them before everything becomes silent. Normally, Yuuri’s first instinct would be to apologize and help him up, but with the way he looks in the moonlight, sprawled out beneath him – it’s like his mind is on autopilot.

Yuuri doesn’t even register that he’s starting to play gently with Victor’s hair, nor that Victor is reaching up to brush some stray hairs from his face as well, smile slowly growing on his face.

“Hi,” he finally whispers. His voice is deeper, wittier, _sexier_ than usual.

“H-Hello,” Yuuri replies, more nervous than usual. It’s not an apprehensive nervous, though. It’s the best kind of nervous in the world.

They stare into each other’s eyes for an indefinite amount of time, zoning out the world around them. Yuuri watches as Victor slowly lowers his gaze, fixing his eyes upon his lips, before looking back up and – oh. _Oh._ Realization hits Yuuri square in the chest.

_Victor wants to kiss me._

He has no idea what the feelings, the motivations behind it are, but he’s seen that look before, so there’s no mistaking it. He wishes he had time to sit down and think about all this, but he knows that's not going to happen with the pace _they're_  headed. All at once, everything becomes surreal. Victor rests a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him closer. He becomes increasingly aware of the noses brushing one-another, heartbeat swelling in his chest, Victor’s warm breath grazing his lips…

Until his eyes widen and he loosens himself from Victor’s grip, jumping, the situation having become too much for him.

“Well, this has been fun, but I should be getting to sleep,” he says a bit too loudly, voice laced with nervous laughter. Then, as if things can’t get any worse, he says “Good night, buddy!”, then reaches out and punches Victor lightly on the arm before running away and leaving a hurt and confused Victor behind.

He looks back momentarily, with what looks like a polite smile on his face. But in his head, his subconscious has finally caught up with him, going, _What have I done, what have I done?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know, 35 degrees Celsius is equal to 95 degrees Fahrenheit -
> 
> I almost wrote down the latter one, but then I remembered the United States is pretty much the only country that uses it, haha.


	11. Chapter 11

“You did _what?!”_

“I know, I know. I panicked,” Yuuri groans, hiding his face in his eyes. Yuko continues circling him, squawking like a bird.

“Jesus, that was probably the most perfect opportunity to kiss him, and what do you do? _Not kiss him!”_

“You seem more upset than I do,” he can’t help chuckling.

“Of course I’m upset! You’re my friend and...wait. I didn’t know Vkusno could cook marshmallows.”

“Oh, it’s the _only_ thing he’s good at cooking,” says Mila. “He told me his house nearly burnt down while he was making toast once.”

“Even a _moron_ knows you can’t set the thing for ten minutes to make it ‘al dente’, or turn a toaster on its side. Nor does it make it more innovative!” Yurio growls. Yuuri brushes their comments aside, carding his hands through his hair.

 _“_ How will I know if he really likes me?”

“He tried to kiss you, didn’t he, _Whitney?”_ Yurio sneers, rolling his eyes.

“Yurio, hon, it’s a lot more complicated than that,” says Yuko. “Kissing doesn’t always indicate a relationship. There are a variety of other reasons Vkusno could have tried to kiss Yuuri. What he needs to do is look for some cues.”

“‘Cues’?” Yuuri raises his eyebrows. Yuko nods.

“Try hosting a movie night. He’ll try all kinds of corny tricks. You’ll see.” She winks and Yuuri shakes his head, smiling.

Sometimes it's like his friends are more interested in his love life than he is.

***

That night, after a long day full of hiking, everyone sits limply beside their beds. Even Minami and Leo are out of breath, and they’re the fittest of the bunch (well, not counting Victor, anyway). Yuuri, on the other hand, is not tired. This may be the most energy he’s ever had.

“What are you all just sitting there for,” he says, prancing around the cabin, “let’s watch a movie!”

Victor laughs.

“What do you have in mind?”

Hm. Now that Yuuri stopped to think about it, he hadn’t thought of any ideas for movie night. He mostly assumed they were going to let the kids pick.

“There’s this interesting horror movie I’ve heard about called _Hand of the Silent._ We could watch that,” says Gee.

“Oh, cool! What’s it about?” says Leo. Gee giggles.

“It’s about this woman who works under a wealthy merchant in a sleepy colonial town. Since she’s stuck in this servant role, bears eight illegitimate children and has seen her entire hometown including her husband wiped out in a forest fire, she’s in pain enough not to speak. But because she won’t talk to anyone, they accuse her of being a sorceress and lock her away before executing her. They cut off her hand since she wears an emerald ring believed to cast devilish spells. But unknown to the townspeople, the severed hand gets life of its own, crawling out of the dirty cell. Now, since they silenced her voice, she wants to silence all of theirs...permanently.”

Yuuri could’ve sworn lightning just crashed outside. Phichit visibly coils.

“Gee, that’s really dark.”

“I know,” he says, batting his eyelashes in indifference.

“Wow! That sounds amazing!” Victor breathes, hands flying about. “Does anyone have a laptop?”

“Why bother? I’ve got it on VCR,” says Yurio, holding up the tape.

Meanwhile, Yuuri is starting to get a little nervous. The last time he saw a horror movie, he not only cried from the overwhelming violence but also didn’t sleep for weeks. Nearby, he can see his friend chatting with Leo about their favorite spooky stories growing up. He reaches out and taps him lightly on the shoulder.

“Victor? I’m not so sure I want to watch this movie – I might just go to sleep.” Victor laughs.

“They bore you that much, huh? Ah, but surely this one’s got to be good.”

“That’s not what I meant,” says Yuuri, breath rising. _No, no, not tonight._

Then Victor realizes something, judging by the cute finger on his lip gesture, and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” He winks. Out of possible coincidence, Yuuri’s shoulders relax and that uncomfortable feeling in his chest goes away.

Looks like he won’t be freaking out tonight after all.

Yurio puts in the movie and Minami makes microwave popcorn. Victor had volunteered to help but was met with an immediate “No no no!” from the kids and sat back down.

During the first few minutes of the movie, not much happens. It focuses on the backstory of the woman protagonist, which some find boring, but Yuuri is completely invested. He can’t help but feel fascinated by her character, seeing how strong and clever she is. Abitha Primrose, he believes her name is: a beautiful name for an unfortunate woman. Especially seeing how all the scullery maids and the lady of the house like to call her “Old Betsy”.

“It’s so tragic she couldn’t live in our time,” says Gee. “Think of how much world peace she would bring.”

“How old is this guy again?” Phichit whispers. Minami shrugs.

About ten minutes in, Abitha is found in court after several accusations of witchcraft for being middle-aged, stubborn – “The woman just wants to read, for God’s sake!” Yurio shouts – and, of course, quiet.

Victor yawns, lifting his arms up in the air before resting one of them across Yuuri’s shoulder. He then pulls him closer, so that the other shoulder is aligned with his armpit and their heads are resting against one-another. The kids have started looking in curiosity, and Yuuri’s not sure whether to laugh at the absolute cheesiness or gasp in realization that Yuko is right and _oh God, he’s definitely got a thing for me._

But now is not the time to act like a giddy school girl, he realizes, for the judges have unfairly sentenced Abitha to death.

“Huh? But she didn’t do anything,” says Minami, eyebrows furrowing. Phichit ruffles his hair in an attempt to lighten the situation. It’s always sad when Minami’s not smiling.

Yuuri is one of the few who looks away when the drums stop playing and the guard ties the noose for the woman to be hung. He squeezes his eyes shut and buries his face in Victor’s chest before he whispers, “It’s alright, Yuuri, you can look now. They didn't show the scene.”

“Imagination is far bad enough,” says Yuuri, and they both laugh. He does the same thing when the guard chops off her hand with a cleaver, but they don’t show the actual scene for that, either. From the corner of his eye, Yuuri only sees the man raising his arms behind his head before it cuts to a pale hand landing on the floor and – wait a minute, is that red dyed chocolate syrup? It looks so fake. Upon closer inspection, Yuuri can actually see a _few_ things wrong about this movie.

First and most obvious of all is the blood, of course. But then there’s the material the hand is made out of. It shimmers like plastic under the lighting, and was that a price tag at the corner just then? It must’ve made it into the film at the last second by mistake. Either way, he is now grinning like an idiot. This is _hilarious._

For the rest of the film, the hand crawls around town, murdering everybody who accused its owner of witchcraft, including her eight sons. In the scene where her second-eldest son Seth is in bed, the hand creeps up, slowly wraps its fingers around his neck, and chokes him. Some of the kids are horrified, but Yuuri is trying not to die of laughter. The actor is terrible. His eyes are bugged out and his tongue hangs out dramatically, and on top of that, he keeps making these really suggestive noises.

Sometimes it pays to have a dirty mind.

At the end, they show a series of title cards, which read,

_Based off a real story in 1692 where a group of farmers found an abandoned town except for 800 dead bodies. While today it is commonly believed that a wave of smallpox was the cause, the farmers thought the small purple markings on each neck were the cause of the town’s only alleged witch, Miss Abitha “Old Betsy” Primrose. To this day, nobody knows where they came from. They may have been pustules as a side-effect of the disease. Or…_

Next thing everyone knows, the scene cuts to Abitha’s claw-like hand, which somehow cackles among the unsettling violin music.

“Turn it off, turn it off!” Yurio shouts.

“What’s the matter? You scared?” Victor teases.

“What? No!” His eyebrows furrow. “I just – didn’t want to hear the annoying music, that’s all!” Other kids nod in agreement, but the fear is in their eyes. Yuuri, on the other hand, is the least affected of all of them.

“No wonder this is a cult classic. The effects were just awful!” He laughs.

“Alright, people, no more messing about! It’s bed time,” says Phichit, clapping his hands together. The kids grumble.

“Aw, man!”

“As if I’m getting any sleep after _this.”_

“You’re not the boss of me…”

“What’s that?” Phichit gives Yurio a stern look, having overheard the third one. Yurio doesn’t answer. He only wrinkles his nose and gives a small scoff before stomping toward the bathroom.

Minami’s lower lip puffs out.

“But what if the hand shows up? And zombies, and the boogeyman?” Phichit’s face softens at that.

“I’ll protect you from the monsters,” he says, “now go brush your teeth.”

Victor and Yuuri chuckle. It’s so wonderful to see all the kids making friends.

Later that night – well, more like early morning – Yuuri is almost asleep when he feels a small tapping on his shoulder. He ignores it, thinking it’s a muscle twitch, before it happens again, except more forceful and accompanied by a hushed whisper.

“Psst, Yuuri. Yuuri!”

“Hm?” He blinks, sliding his glasses on to greet the figure in front of him. “What is it, Victor?”

“Oh, well, I –” He scratches his head. “That was a pretty scary movie, huh? For you, I mean.”

“I wasn’t scared,” says Yuuri, furrowing his brow.

“Oh, good!” Victor says a bit too loudly. “I just...I wanted to make sure you were okay, you know? I know how scary these kinds of films can be for some people. In fact, I should probably get in bed with you, just to make sure you sleep well, should anything happen.” He sidles under the covers. “Not that I expect anything to happen, of course.”

He gives the cheesiest grin Yuuri has ever seen, inadvertently revealing it all. He can’t believe it – the great Victor Nikiforov, laugher in the face of danger, is afraid of a popcorn flick.

Yuuri bursts out laughing, which he tries to cover with his pillow.

“Don’t laugh at me! The monster could attack us at any minute!” Victor hisses, before he realizes what he just admitted and pouts.

“You could have just said you were scared,” says Yuuri. “I wouldn’t tell anybody.”

“I know. I’m not very good at expressing my feelings. But,” his eyes sparkle, “you’re the only person I would tell.”

Yuuri smiles, wrapping an arm around Victor and pulling himself closer until they are in an embrace.

“Sleep now,” he whispers. “You’re safe with me.”

***

The next morning, Yuuri finds himself panting in an attempt to chase down Phichit.

“Gimme that camera!”

“No!”

Phichit laughs, holding up a picture of his two counselors sleeping together out in front of him so Yuuri can’t take it from him. He can’t help wanting to preserve such an adorable memory.

“Stop, I’m so embarrassed!” Yuuri whines, flailing his hands about. Nearby, Victor rubs his eyes.

“What is this all about?” he says, sitting up in bed. Upon hearing Victor’s voice, Yuuri stops in his tracks. Only now does he realize he’s wearing nothing but an undershirt, a blue pair of boxer briefs and wool socks. He attempts to cover himself, face burning.  

“I kinda sorta snuck in to take a picture of you guys, but Yuuri caught me,” Phichit says, smiling sheepishly. “I couldn’t help it, sorry. It’s just, you looked so cute!”

“Let me see,” Victor reaches out for the camera and taps the button. Immediately, his face lights up. “Aw, look at Yuuri! So beautiful, even when he’s asleep.”

 _“Victor!”_ Yuuri whines, face growing even more red.

“Do you mind making a copy of this?” Victor asks with shining eyes. Before Phichit can answer, however, the door slams open.

“Vkusno~!” a heavy accent sings from the doorway, “I’ve been trying to contact you all morning.”

“Oh - hi, Chris!” Victor waves at him, smiling. “What’s up?”

“It’s here, Victor. The books are in the library.”

“Good, good,” he claps his hands together. “I shall see you at the grand re-opening, then.”

“Right, Victor. Yuuri,” Chris acknowledges him with a friendly wink before leaving. Yuuri turns to Victor.

“I have a feeling you’re not really talking about books.” Victor laughs.

“Oh, it’s just our annual staff get-together party. It’ll be lots of fun, you’ll see.”

Yuuri raises his eyebrows, but decides to question no further.

That night, after all the kids have gone to bed, Yuuri and Victor walk toward what looks like a small cabin on the edge of the forest. Yuuri can’t help but feel a bit curious. He’s never been to a staff gathering before. Will the president of the camp be there? Is he going to go around and shake hands? Should he have worn something more formal -

His thoughts are cut off by the front door swinging open. From inside, music blasts from the speakers and strobe lights blare - not what he thought it would be like at all. The kid who opened the door has an undercut with piercing blue eyes.

“‘Sup, fellas? Can I pour you a drink - _JJ-style?”_ He does a funny movement with his hands, which makes Yuuri back away, but Victor laughs.

“Don’t worry, it’s just something he does. It’s not meant to intimidate you. ...Yes, I’ll take a bit of rum to start and come back for the more serious stuff later.”

“You got it!” The kid steps aside for the two to go in. Yuuri narrows his eyes.

“Victor, what is going on, here? That kid looked no more than fifteen – Victor?” But Victor’s not there. In fact, he’s already found a group of friends to chat with in the center of the cabin, which leaves Yuuri on his own. Well, almost.

“Hey, Yuuri! Come sit with us at the girls’ table!” Yuko calls, waving him over. He breathes a sigh of relief for knowing somebody here and joins her along with Anya, Mila and one other girl who is new.

“Yuuri, this is Sara. You’ll have to excuse her, she’s a bit drunk,” says Mila.

“Hi, I like your eyes...very pretty,” Sara slurs, before continuing her rant. “Who does my brother think he is? I mean, just because he was the first to come out of the womb, he thinks he’s the boss of me!”

“Ugh, I know, men are the worst! Except you, Yuuri, you’re cool.” Yuuri gives a nervous laugh, not really sure what to say.

“Can I get you a drink?”  says Yuko.

“No thank you,” Yuuri chuckles.

“How ‘bout a cigarette?” says Anya.

“No.” Yuuri puts his hands up. “Thank you, but I’d rather not spoil my appetite.”

“Oh, _I_ see,” Mila’s face twists up in a dirty grin. “Get it, girl!” The other three start whooping and hollering at him, making his face turn red.

For the next hour, Yuuri watches as everybody grows progressively more drunk. Obnoxious laughter and hysterical sobbing fill the room, along with shrieks and bottles smashing open. Some people are gossiping about one-another. Some people are making out in the corner. Some people have already started taking off their clothes and dancing and others are throwing money at them, drooling.

Yuuri is the only one who didn’t touch a single bottle of alcohol, and he’s getting flak for it. Countless times, people have come up to him, telling him to loosen up, have a glass, have a cigarette. But who is he to tell them his drunkenness would be a thousand times worse? The worst part is that he can’t even be with his friends anymore. It frustrates him that every time he tries to talk to Victor, some drunk friend has got an arm around him, singing horribly off-key. Like Chris, for example.

“It’s wine o’clock~!” he sings.

“No, it’s beer thirty,” says Sara, rubbing her temples.

“Well, I say it’s quarter past whiskey!” JJ bangs his fist on the countertop. Yes – even _he’s_ hammered.

Just then, the table jolts, sending Yuuri falling back in surprise. It turns out Anya and Georgi were grinding and bumped into his table by mistake.

“Whoops! Sorry, Yulio! I di’n't see you there,” Anya slurs.

“Do not worry. You are okay,” Georgi shouts in his ear, patting the top of his head extra hard.

“Ow, ow,” Yuuri winces, wondering how he ever got stuck in such an awful situation. Then, as if things can’t get any worse, JJ comes out with a long tube attached to a funnel.

“Okay, everybody! This is called ‘The Worm’! What you do is pour a mixture of drinks through the funnel and the other person has to _drink._ _All_ of it!” He laughs hysterically, then falls flat on his face. Yuuri gasps and runs toward him, but luckily, he is only asleep. He sits him up against the wall and covers him with a blanket, puke-side up, so he won’t get stained.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet,” says Chris. “I wish someone would tuck _me_ in like that. ...Ah, well! Let the games begin!”

Everyone cheers, picking up the tube and finding different drinks they could use. Chris lies on the ground, mouth wide open and two guys who Yuuri believes are named Seung-gil and Emil pour wine, beer, scotch and tequilla into the funnel. By now, the crowd is going wild.

“Worm, worm, worm, worm,” they chant over and over again. Yuuri sees all the inebriated faces and Chris foaming at the mouth, and at once, it becomes too much.

“Are you out of your mind?” he snaps, causing everybody to look at him. His face is hot from all the attention he’s getting, but he doesn’t care. “Are you all out of your mind?!” he repeats louder, “We’re supposed to be good role models for these kids! How can we do that when we’re busy drinking _this_ – while we’re underage, may I add – and _smoking!”_

“Dude, chill, it’s just a margarita,” someone says.

“Well, even so, I refuse to take part in any of this. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be here when the police show up to shut this party down. I’m out!”

He storms out of the cabin, blood pumping too hard in his ears for him to hear the sneers of “Whatever” and “So lame” behind him. Victor sees him leaving and elbows some of his friends aside to try and catch up.

“Yuuri.”

Once he’s outside of the cabin, he wipes at his eyes, feeling frustrated tears well up within them. Oh, good, now he’s crying. Of course, this kind of thing only happens to him. Maybe he could’ve used a drink after all. “Yuuri, wait!” He’s so angry he can barely register the cool touch of fingers on his cheek. “I’m sorry, I should have known partying was not your thing. Want me to go back to the cabin with you and we can do a puzzle?”

Yuuri closes his eyes to take in the feeling of Victor’s thumb grazing along his eyelashes, gently wiping his tears away, then opens them again to meet a pair of warm yet concerned eyes.

“Not tonight,” he finally sighs, “I’m tired, I just want to go to sleep.” It’s not far from the truth either, he realizes, before yawning. Victor smiles.

“You’ll be okay if I stay and party a little longer?” Yuuri shrugs, smiling back.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Well, before you go,” Victor says, grabbing his sleeve, almost shy, “I just want you to know that I may not be underage, but...that was very cool what you did back there.”

Yuuri smiles in thanks, then Victor slowly leans forward and brushes his lips over his in a small peck. He pulls away and places a hand on his neck. “Keep on surprising me,” he whispers, before walking back inside the cabin and leaving Yuuri standing in the moonlight, finger touching his lips and smile growing on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo hoo, finally!
> 
> The movie title was completely made up, with a plotline parodying urban legends I’ve heard in the past.


	12. Chapter 12

Sunlight shines through the window and birds twitter in the trees, marking the promise of a brand new day.

Yuuri flutters his eyelids, slowly opening his eyes before a figure in front of him comes into focus. It’s Victor, lying beside him on the bottom bunk, watching him with patient eyes. _What a pleasant thing to wake up to._

“Hi,” he says. Victor smiles.

“Hi.”

Yuuri sits up a bit.

“How was the party?”

“It was alright,” Victor shrugs. “It went on for about an hour after you left until the cops came in and broke it up like you said they would.” He laughs.

Yuuri has an uneasy feeling, given the antics last night, but he just has to ask –

“Was anybody seriously drunk?”

“Chris got tipsy, for sure,” he says, nodding. “When a cop asked him to show his license, he looked him dead in the eye and said, ‘It’s a margarita.’ And then he fainted.” Yuuri pulls a bit of a face. He hopes he’s okay.

“You didn’t drink too much, did you?”

“No, fortunately. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a stripper whenever I get drunk. ...Unless, of course, that’s your thing.” He waggles his eyebrows.

 _“Victor~!”_ Yuuri giggles. Victor wraps his arms around his waist.

“Come on, don’t lie to me. We both know you like it.”

“Stop it!” He gives him a playful shove. “God, you’re so gross.”

“Hey, you chose me.”

They laugh and Victor wraps an arm around Yuuri’s waist, cuddling him from behind. Yuuri takes Victor’s hand and places it on his chest to get him closer, then closes his eyes in bliss. They lie like that for a few minutes, his disgusting best friend and him. He can hear his breathing growing rhythmic, as sleep threatens to take over.

Just then, Victor leans forward and places a small kiss on the back of his head. He stiffens.

“What’s the matter? Too soon?” he whispers.

“No, it’s nice, I just…” He turns around, facing him. “I want to make sure everyone’s okay.”

Victor looks slightly disappointed, but he nods in understanding and holds out a hand for Yuuri to grab.

“Let’s go,” he says. Yuuri reaches out and takes it, then gets out of bed. Once they’re outdoors, they are greeted with a crisp breeze and early morning dew on the grass. Victor squeezes his hand.

“Beautiful morning, isn’t it?” Yuuri smiles.

“Yeah.”

They walk around the camp to check on everybody, starting first with the girls.

“Oh, my head,” Yuko moans from beneath the covers.

“This hurts like a bitch,” Anya agrees.

The only thing that cheers them up is the fact that Victor and Yuuri are holding hands. But Yuuri gives them a look as if to tell them not to interrogate any further, so they decide to ask him about it later when he feels more comfortable. ...And they’re not throwing up.

Speaking of which, Mila walks out of the bathroom looking very pale.

“Hey, Anya, I think I’m going to be in here for a while. D’you think I can borrow another towel – ” She trails off upon realizing who her guests are. “Oh, shit, it’s you. ...God, I’m real sorry about my behavior last night.”

“So am I,” another voice pipes up from the ground. Yuuri recognizes it as Sara’s. “I tossed so much dirt on my brother last night. I’m not usually like that at all. I don’t know what came over me.”

The door bursts open, revealing a tall young man with olive skin like Sara’s.

“Sara, I’m here! Nobody better have touched you, or I swear – ”

“Mickey! Oh, Mickey, I had too much to drink.” She sobs and grabs onto him, and he’s not sure what to do. Finally, she looks up at him, smiling through her tears. “Let’s go home, _fratello.”_

His face softens at that, having decided against lecturing her for the day.

“Come on - I’ll get you a pair of sunglasses and water on the way back.” He puts his arm around her shoulder and they walk towards the car. On her way past, she winks and waves at one of the counselors, making them blush. Yuuri and Victor laugh. Hopefully she can come back next year – she’s got some spirit in her.

Next are the boys, who, by the looks of it, will not be partying like that again anytime soon. Or so Yuuri hopes.

“What a night. I can barely remember what happened,” Chris groans. He runs his fingers through his hair and puts on a pair of spectacles. Victor and Yuuri’s jaws drop. He tilts his head. _“What?”_ He rolls his eyes at the two, who are still in a state of shock. “I’m near-sighted, okay?” Yuuri scratches his head.

“Sorry, it’s just – ”

“We didn’t know you wore glasses,” Victor finishes.

“Yeah.” Yuuri nods, agreeing with him. Chris grins devilishly through his killer migraine - God bless him - taking note of the finishing of each other’s sentences.

“Did something happen here that I’m not aware of?” he purrs.

“Chris, behave,” Victor warns. Chris lets out a wheezy laugh.

“Ahaha! I knew it! I’m happy for you, though.” Victor chuckles.

“You? Actually happy for _me?_ And I thought we were supposed to be rivals.”

“Alright, fine, I take it back. You know what?” He waves his hand in dismissal, laughing. “Shoo, get the fuck out, you’re annoying me.”

“Not until you promise to take a shower. You smell like shit,” Victor says, but his eyes are crinkling. It’s selfish of Yuuri to think this, but he wishes this side of Chris were more present: the witty, fun-loving hipster, instead of the shallow creep the rest of the camp makes him out to be. The fact that Victor knew this all along and became his friend for that reason warms his heart.

Chris is also quite stubborn, as shown by his refusal to leave the bed. Finally, Victor has to drag him towards the bathroom like a rag doll, prompting many laughs. Chris pouts, but after they leave the room, they can hear the sound of water running. “He’s a good guy,” Victor says more to himself, but Yuuri hears it and smiles anyhow.

When they check in on some of the other staff, they yield the same result: uncomfortable, unwashed, and slightly undressed. Georgi says something in disgruntled Russian, and puts a hand to his face. He is too late to realize the Little Cubs put whipped cream on it, so now his face is entirely covered. The kids laugh, but he falls back on his pillow, groaning. He can’t be bothered to discipline a bunch of toddlers when last night he could barely discipline himself.

Seung-gil and Emil got a ride from a sober friend last night, which is good. Yuuri is also relieved to know that JJ’s parents picked him up the night before. He hopes they can put him back on the right path – after all, he _is_ Phichit’s age.

Victor listens to Yuuri repeating this information to him, a thoughtful look on his face, as though he has been reminded of something.

***

Yuuri won’t yet admit it, but the fact that he wanted to see if everybody was alive after the party was partially the truth when he told Victor he wished to get up. In reality, he has no idea how he’s supposed to interpret the ambiguity of their relationship. Victor seems fine with lying back and shooting the breeze, but Yuuri needs a little more direction.

Later that night, when the kids are asleep in the other room and the two are working almost nose-to-nose on a jigsaw puzzle, Yuuri decides to confront him about it.

“You know last night was my first kiss?”

“Really?” says Victor, nonchalant.

“Yeah, _really,”_ he snaps. “You know, with all these mixed signals I’ve been getting, it’s no wonder I’m a bit confused!”

“Confused?” Victor’s eyebrows furrow. “Yuuri, when I kissed you, I was anything _but_ confused. I’d think you would know that.”

“But what _are_ we?” he presses, “I know you want to go with the flow, but I need an answer. It’s really weird and scary for me because you have more experience than I do. You’ve had an actual lover before. I’m completely new at this!”

“Yuuri.” He looks up at the sound of his name being used and hands placing themselves firmly on top of his. The room is bathed in the dim light of the lamp, which reflects in Victor’s eyes. “Did you like it when I kissed you?” he whispers. Yuuri nods his head.

“Yes.”

“Do you like it when I’m near you? Do you find me attractive?”

“Yes, of course,” he says, not really sure where any of this is going.

“And my personality?”

“Yeah, i-it’s wonderful.”

“Well, there’s your answer, right?” he chuckles in exasperation. “Anybody can _think_ about these things, Yuuri. They can mull over them for days and days, but they hardly ever find the answer. You know why?”

Before Yuuri has a chance to answer, Victor continues, “Because they spend all their time thinking, instead of considering the _feeling_ brewing within them. I kissed you because even though you’re the type to think about and worry over these things - and that’s completely okay - I could tell what you were feeling by the way we interacted with one-another. When we were having _fun_. And really,” he says, bringing their heads closer together, “that’s what romance is all about.”

Yuuri looks down, almost in shame. Of course he ought to have known Victor wouldn’t play him like that. He’s far too straight up honest to be playing reindeer games – one of the things he admires most about him. When he looks back up, however, he does not see ridiculing, judgmental eyes. Instead, they shine with empathy and admiration. It stirs something inside of him.

“Victor? If you don’t mind, I-I’d like to kiss _you,_ now.” He does not laugh, as Yuuri thought he would, but instead nods.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

He takes a deep breath in his mind then leans forward, brushing his nose against the side of his, pressing his smooth lips against his. The first thing he tastes is bitter sunscreen, which makes his nose wrinkle a bit, but there’s a bit of familiarity in his breath too, like lemonade. It reminds him of a cup of _sake_ back at home. He can feel Victor gently sliding his glasses off as his own fingers reach up to comb through Victor’s hair. Soft, silky - he must’ve showered earlier that day. Victor’s hands frame his own face as though they are trying to preserve a work of art.

When they finally pull apart, they look at each other, breathless. It’s a time when words are not needed, but Victor says them anyway.

“Wow,” he whispers, pupils dilating. “For a guy with no experience, you’re really good.”

“Aw, now you’re just messing with me,” Yuuri says, walking away with a mischievous smile on his face and leaving Victor whining in the background.

“No, really, I mean it – you have a gift! Come back and kiss me again, _please?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri, bad boyfriend, don’t be a tease. X-D
> 
> Healthy communication for the win!


	13. Chapter 13

“...So then he leaned forward and kissed me.”

Yuko, Mila, and Anya all squeal collectively. Yuuri shakes his head, smiling. In hindsight, it was naïve to think no one besides him could get so excited about his first kiss.

“So beautiful!”

“So precious!”

“Oh, my heart can’t take it! Tell us again, _please?”_

They all look at him with puppy dog eyes, but this time he is able to resist.

“Come on, guys, I’ve told you this story three times already.”

“That’s not enough, though!” Yuko whines.

“Yeah!” the others agree. Yuuri laughs.They remind him of his sister Mari when she was little and would always demand that her parents read her the same story over and over again before bed. ...Albeit it was more about talking mice and samurai adventures than men kissing.

Just then, someone sneaks up behind him and covers his eyes with their hands.

“Guess who~!” a familiar voice sings.

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s your gross, disgusting boyfriend,” Yurio grumps in the background.

Yuuri laughs, turning around to greet this dork of a man.

“Hi.”

“HI.” They give each other a small kiss, temporarily oblivious to the heightened volume of screaming in the background.

“Yuuri, you never told us he was your _boyfriend!”_

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?!” Yurio fumes. “Look at how couple-y they are, it’s disgusting! It makes me want to puke! Blegh.” He sticks his tongue out and makes gagging noises for effect.

“Aww, _son!"_ Victor puts a dramatic hand to his heart as if touched by his words.

“Come here, we love you too,” Yuuri gushes, as he and Victor sandwich Yurio between them and shower him with affection, prompting some laughs from the girls. Yurio’s limbs flail in protest.

“Losers! Get off me, you are not my dads! Nor do I want you to be! Stop pinching my cheeks, I’m not a child, for Christ’s sake!”

***

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“Yeah, the kids said they would meet us here soon,” says Yuuri, scratching his head.

The two of them are standing in front of the high ropes course wondering why, true to their word, none of their kids are on it. Victor shrugs.

“They’re probably still going for a little swim at the lake with Stone’s kids. It doesn't have to stop _us_ from having some fun." With that, he begins ascending the wall. “Last one up is a rotten _pirozhki!”_ Yuuri grins up at him, then climbs the wall also.

“Don’t bother. You know I’m going to beat you anyway.”

“Well, _honey_ , we’ll just see about that!” Victor teases, sticking his tongue out.

“Don’t count on it, _sweetheart,”_ Yuuri retaliates, and they both laugh.

At the beginning of the summer, Yuuri would have scoffed if he were told that he could out-run, out-hike or out-climb _anyone._ But now, looking down at Victor’s struggling form, he realizes just how strong, how mature he has become. It’s this feeling of empowerment, more than anything, that drives him toward the top. Also the fact that this is painfully easy. Is Victor even _trying_ to challenge him?

“Hey, Yuuri, what’s that over there?”

“Where?”

“Ahah!” In a sudden short burst of energy, Victor speeds his way past Yuuri before reaching the platform at the top and stepping onto it.  Yuuri comes up huffing and puffing not long after. Victor lends him a hand. Then he places a hand on his shoulder and says, “I just want you to know that even though you have lost, I still think very highly of you.” His face may look serious, but Yuuri can see right past _that_ disguise.

“Shut up.” He gives him a playful swat and sure enough, Victor bursts into laughter.

At the same time, however, he can’t help but notice how even after getting to know each other, Victor is still so full of surprises. It makes him fall even more in love just thinking about it.

“You know, you really are wonderful,” Victor says, as though he were reading his thoughts. There’s nothing shocking about what he says, nothing surprising. It’s perfectly natural, perfectly beautiful, visible within his eyes. Yuuri sighs, smiling.

“So are you.”

Victor takes both of Yuuri’s hands in his, then leans forward to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek. Afterwards, he gestures at the course.

“Where should we go first?”

From where he is, Yuuri can see the moving platforms and tires. When combining the height with the gusts of wind causing them to sway, it puts him sort of on edge. Taking a breath, he looks around for other options before finally finding one satisfying enough.

“How about this log bridge?” He knows it’s probably not as exciting to Victor compared to some of the other obstacles, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Sure!”

He takes his wrist and all but drags him towards the bridge. Yuuri watches as he gracefully steps across, with arms stretched out and toes pointed in order to keep balance. Yuuri raises his eyebrows.

“Did you take ballet?”

“Hm?” Victor breaks out of his concentration. Then – “Oh, yes, I have been for a while now. Yakov is trying to discourage me since he says I’m getting too old, but I love it too much to quit.”

“I take ballet too,” Yuuri offers, touching a knee with his toes, “I’m sure you’re much better than me, though.” Victor chuckles.

“Can you _pirouette?”_ He bends his knees, turning in a neat circle.

“That’s one of the first moves we were taught,” Yuuri laughs, copying him with ease.

“And an _epaule?”_

“Yep.”

“How about an _arabesque?”_

“Yeah, I’ve finally managed to perfect that last year.”

“Yuuri Katsuki, is there anything you can’t do?” Victor sighs in mock exasperation.

“No,” Yuuri laughs. Then, frowning, “Though, looking back, that was kind of a problem in high school. Because I could pull off so many of these dance moves performance-wise, my teachers never focused too much on my technical aspects, so on things like jumps, I would usually just fall down. That _really_ took a downturn on my self-esteem.”

“I wish I could perform like you,” says Victor, standing on one leg, “Even when I notice the technical faults, as you mentioned, I still find myself lacking in the power and emotion you portray so well. I fear I come off as arrogant.” He puts a finger to his lips in thought. Then, smiling, “You know - with all our imperfections, we’re like a symphony together.”

“Maybe that’s why we met,” Yuuri says, just as thoughtful.

“Oh, it’s more than just why we met, Yuuri,” says Victor, “It’s _how_ we met too, and why I think we’re going to be together for a very long time.” Yuuri gasps.

“You really think so?” Victor’s eyes sparkle.

“I _know_ so.”

It’s all Yuuri can take not to cry.

The two of them continue dancing across the log bridge and many of the other obstacles, just laughing and enjoying each other’s company. They skip hand-in-hand towards the last obstacle, laughing over nothing until Yuuri takes a closer look and freezes.

There, right in front of him, is a zipline, composed of loose buckles and a wire-thin cable. And the worst part?

“Victor...this is _forty feet off the ground.”_

“Yes, isn’t it _great?”_ he says, oblivious. “Of course, I’ve been on taller ones that get up to eighty feet, but I’m sure this will be just as good. Maybe better.” He smiles down at Yuuri, and Yuuri is not sure whether to melt at how romantic that is or throw up because Victor actually expects him to _go_ on this scary thing.

“What if I fall?” Here, Victor picks up on Yuuri’s fear and wraps a comforting arm around his shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry. I would never let you fall. But if you do in life, I want to be there to pick you back up.” All it takes are these few wise words, and Yuuri is nearly bubbling over with emotion.

“Me too. I’ll do that too.” This time, there is no stopping the tears.

He wipes them away quickly, trying to pull himself together, before Victor buckles himself up and holds out a hand to grab.

“Do you trust me, then?”

“Victor, I don’t know, I - ”

“Trust me, Yuuri.”

For a moment, they only watch each other in silence. Victor’s blue eyes somehow look even bluer, even with the forest and sunlight reflected within them. They remain like this until finally Yuuri takes his hand and wraps the buckles around himself.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this,” he whispers. Victor laughs, having overheard him.

“It’ll be fine. Come on, let’s see how fast this thing goes!”

“No, Victor, wait, I -” The rest of his sentence turns into one long yell as they go flying down the wire. Victor is yelling too, only out of joy. Yuuri clings to him for dear life, thinking they could die at any moment now, right when the kids are looking for them, and they would witness their ultimate demise. All because of a zipline.

Finally, it reaches near-ground level and swings back and forth due to a surplus of momentum. Victor laughs, hyped up on adrenaline. At this point, Yuuri is laughing too, though it’s mostly because he’s alive.

“Don’t you want to admit that was even a little bit fun?” Victor whispers in his ear.

“Never in my life,” says Yuuri, out of breath. Victor chuckles then looks at his watch.

“It’s 3:30 now.”

“That’s strange - the kids still aren’t here.” Yuuri furrows his brow. He takes a look at his camp schedule for reference, but nowhere on it does it say the kids have a high ropes course activity today. In fact, neither one of the counselors of the Kids of the Earth were supposed to be here at this time.

Victor seems to have realized this too, for they both turn around, smile and shake their heads at the same time, saying,

“Oh, those girls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad everyone’s enjoying the summer in this fic while we just got more snow where I live.
> 
> What kinda April Fools’ joke is this? X-D


	14. Chapter 14

Since he arrived in June, Yuuri could not have asked for a better camp experience. He’s been having lots of fun with and learning so much from the kids and staff around him, not to mention his loving boyfriend. And yet, one day, for no reason at all, he wakes up feeling rather…

Empty.

It could be this is the first time he has had enough time in the morning to think instead of rushing out of bed and onto the next activity for a while. It could even be the fact that this is supposed to be one of the hottest days of the week. As he lies in bed, trying to figure out why he doesn’t have as much energy today, it suddenly hits him –

The slabs of wood glued close together with vertical ones running up and down look similar to his ceiling back home.

Outside, he can hear the blue jays and cardinals twittering as usual. For a brief moment, he wishes there were more warblers and seagulls like the ones back at home. He can hear them now if he tries hard enough, and if he closes his eyes, he can smell the strong aroma of _sake_ wafting from his favorite blue tea cup, feel Vic-chan nuzzling up to him, see the rain pattering gently across the pink cherry blossoms from outside the window…

His smile wavers and a dull pressure throbs in his head - not like a headache, but the kind you get before crying. He didn’t know he could miss something with so much intensity. He had known Japan was far away, but it never occurred to him just how far away it really was. Not just in the number of miles, but how many months he’ll be away, how many _years._ Suppose he forgets what his town looks like. His breathing grows ragged as he struggles to remember every nook, every corner of where he used to live, but of course in such a state he can’t recall them clearly. It’s an ugly cycle.

If only Victor would awaken already and chat him up, as he always does to distract him from his negative thoughts. He can hear him shuffling up there, but he usually moves around a lot in his sleep. Yuuri should know - on the occasions they shared a bed together, Victor could either be a snuggle monster or he would act like a total bastard and kick him in the shins.

Above, he can hear the bed sheets rustling and the sound of a yawn. Now he knows he’s awake.

“Victor-?” he begins, but the other only walks out the door without answering, let alone looking at him. Yuuri rakes a hand through his hair, raising an eyebrow.

Well, _that_ was rude.

***

“Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet up with me, Yuko.”

“What ‘schedule’?” she scoffs, “I’ve cancelled so many outdoor events already, this weather is _sweltering.”_ She lets out a short “Phew!” and fans herself for emphasis, and Yuuri chuckles. After, she takes a sip of coffee and looks at him from across their shared table. “So, what’s up? Is something bothering you?”

“Well, throughout the day, I’ve been feeling pretty homesick - ”

“Aww.” Her lips pout in sympathy. Then, smiling, “Well, at least you have Victor there to comfort you, right?”

“That’s the other thing,” he says, scratching his head. She frowns.

“Oh God. You’re not breaking up with him, are you?”

“No, nothing like that,” he says, laughing. “I’m a bit worried about him, though. He’s been gone all day. The last time I saw him was breakfast, and he won’t even return my texts.”

He smiles, shaking his head.  “At least _you’re_ here in my time of need.”

“What is that guy’s problem?” Yuko fumes, “I swear if he weren’t your boyfriend or devastatingly attractive I would _so_ chew him out for you.”

“Thanks...I think?”

The two of them laugh, each taking another sip of coffee. Yuuri knows the caffeine will only feed his anxiety, but right now it’s the one thing he needs to stay energized. Maybe even sane.

“How’s _your_ schedule doing?” says Yuko.

“Oh, it’s shot,” he takes another sip of coffee, “the kids followed Victor shortly after he left, all saying they were going to the beach to play with the younger kids. They probably just don’t want to hang out with me.” He laughs, but Yuko can see right through to his pain and reaches across, taking his hands in hers.

“Yuuri, don’t think like that - there’s gotta be a reason for all this, you’ll see.” She gives each of his hands a comforting squeeze. He gives her a sad smile, squeezing back.

“I hope so.”

***

From the afternoon up until evening, Yuuri asks everyone around if they have seen either Victor or the kids, but no one knows. Anya thinks they might be at the lake again with her girls, so he checks there. No kids. Mila says she last saw them walking through the forest, so he checks there. No kids. Chris says they might be at the climbing wall, so he checks there. No kids. He does find Georgi, though. He seems adamant about finally beating Chris and invites him to see them race sometime. Yuuri thanks him and is on his way.

He checks the volleyball court, the mountains, the campfire rings – it is no use. He can’t find them anywhere. Finally, after a long day of searching and a barely-touched supper, he gives up and retires to bed early.

It feels strange, _eerie,_ to be alone in the cabin again. Already, he’s having flashbacks to the first night he arrived and the few days following. When he barely knew anyone, and the shadows of the trees looked like monsters on the wall. More than anything, it makes him want to go home.

That’s when it hits him – perhaps he _can_ go home.

Some of the other kids and staff have left already, since they didn’t have to stay the whole summer. Maybe he could, too. Yes, this is perfect! He’ll fly back to Japan and stay there for the next few weeks until he has to go back to America to go to college in Detroit. He can see his family, his dog, his ballet instructor…

Wait.

Is he low-key _giving up_ right now?

Is that the way he’s going to be all his life, just because Victor wasn’t there for him? Just how weak does that man think he is? He thinks back to the earlier conversation he had. Forget Yuko chewing him out - maybe _he_ should.

Growling, he jerks his glasses onto his face before stomping out of the room. He may have been a pushover in the past but dammit, not _this_ time!

Once he gets outside, he turns on his flashlight, nostrils flaring. He may be high-strung, but he doesn’t remember the last time he was truly angry. To be fair, it is mostly a result of agony, but that doesn’t make him any less frustrated.

He continues walking, in the hope that he can find Victor and give him a piece of his mind, when he hears a small _crunch_ beneath his feet. He bends over and picks up the mysterious object and recognizes its now-mangled form as a paper crane. He shines his light along the trail, which reveals what must be hundreds of other paper cranes just like the one in his hand. He notices a familiar smell coming from some of them. Is that incense?

Just when he thinks things couldn’t get more strange, something catches his eye in the forest. The light is nearly blinding. He squints…are those paper lanterns?

He picks one up and looks at the cherry blossom design. Why, this is hand-painted.

Eyebrows rising to his hairline, he stumbles along the trail.

_Please, God, tell me I have fallen asleep and ended up in a strange land within my fantasies._

“Now remember guys, like we rehearsed,” he can hear someone’s voice - Victor? - whispering, shortly before Minami jumps up and says,

“Welcome to Japan Town!”

“Ack!” Yuuri nearly jumps out of his skin.

“Where you can drink mint tea,” says Yurio.

“And try some of our sushi!” says Phichit. Gee links arms with Yuuri and gestures above.

“Feast your fine eyes on the lovely paper lanterns hanging from the branches. Each has a stylized cherry blossom on its exterior.”

“All of which painted by Gee. He’s a really good artist,” Leo adds. Gee blushes.

“Shucks…”

“Don’t forget to stop at our local ‘ _onsen_ in a bucket’! Please don’t drink the water,” says Minami, giggling.

“You can get one of our local _kimonos_ for free,” says Victor, pointing at his own blue one and doing a little dance. Yuuri shakes his head, not quite ready to believe any of this.

“Victor, what is going on?”

“Well, this morning I noticed from my bunk that you looked a bit down even though you've been having good days, so I thought you might be homesick. I gathered our kids together to create this little project. We actually had to hide from you a couple times.” He laughs. Then, eyes growing serious for a moment, “Sorry I wasn’t there for you, but I wanted to do something a little more meaningful than just comforting you.” He gestures at the whole setup. “So - what do you think?”

Everybody smiles while Yuuri's eyes fill up with tears.

“Y-You’re such an idiot,” he barely manages before moving in to kiss him. He should have known. Of _course_ he should have known. That damn Victor can read him like a book!

“Hey, I pitched in too, a little,” Yurio complains. Victor laughs, hands on Yuuri’s waist.

“Aw, is Yurio jealous?” he teases.

“Come here, I’ll give you a kiss,” Yuuri agrees, chasing after him and making kissy sounds.

“Yuck! Cooties!” Yurio cries, and everybody laughs. He darts among the trees and Yuuri will admit, he is fast. Unfortunately for him, however, Yuuri’s been practicing all summer.

He wraps his arms around his waist from behind and plants a big wet smooch right on his cheek, much to the amusement of the others.

“I’ve told you once and I’ll tell you again - you are not my parent!” Yurio cries, limbs flailing.

“Too late. I’ve already signed the adoption papers,” says Yuuri, eyes shining. He lets the disgusted youth go and assumes his place back in Victor’s arms. “Thanks, everyone. I couldn’t be happier.”

“So this means you’ll stay?” Minami says, eyes wide as saucers. Yuuri nods. “Yes, yes, yes!” Minami cheers and throws his arms around the two of them. Yuuri returns the embrace and Victor laughs, ruffling his hair. Then he breaks away and joins the other kids, who have started a spontaneous game of night tag.

The two of them stand there, hugging for a little while. Victor combs a gentle hand through the other’s hair.

“...You know, there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think of my own home in St. Petersburg.”

“Really?” Yuuri looks up at him, eyes pink. Victor nods. Yuuri shakes his head.

“I can’t believe I spent all day lamenting about how much I wanted to go home when here you are, missing your own. I’m so selfish.”

“No,” the other says suddenly, sweeping his hair out of his eyes, “no, you’re not. If anything, _I’m_ the one who’s selfish. I’ve got nothing back in Russia, no family to speak of. So you miss your family. That doesn’t mean you’re weak, Yuuri. It means you never forget what is most important to you.” Yuuri sighs.

“You know, for a man who is so action-oriented, you sure are wise.”

Victor chuckles, placing a kiss on his forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, homesickness – not fun. :-P
> 
> Stay tuned for next chapter's talent show!


	15. Chapter 15

Lately, there’s been word - and posters - going around the camp about an annual late summer talent show. Yuuri kind of wants to participate, but he isn’t sure. He still hasn’t fully recovered from his failure of a dancing career, though he does want to get into performance again…

Pushing his dilemma-ed thoughts aside, he walks into the cabin and claps his hands together, greeting the kids.

“So, does everybody have plans for the talent show?”

Leo speaks first.

“Well, actually, Gee wrote this amazing story which I read the other day -”

“It was more like you seized it directly from my hands, but okay,” Gee says, blushing. Leo laughs.

“Anyway, we were all thinking we could put on a play based off Gee’s story.”

“That’s wonderful! What is it about?” says Yuuri. Gee reads from the excerpt inside his notebook.

“‘A young child lives in the Land of Pumpkins and is in despair due to the fact that none of the pumpkins will grow on her farm. One day, she does a good deed and is paid a visit by a beautiful fairy queen who promises to help her’.” Yuuri nods.

“Sounds promising. Does everyone know which part they’re going to play?”

“Gee will be our narrator,” says Phichit, “I’m the humble villager, Leo is the mayor, Yurio’s a troll, Minami’s a pumpkin, one of the Little Cubs is the kitten and –” He pauses, taking a breath before looking up at Yuuri, “you’re our fairy queen.”

 _“Me?”_ Yuuri points to himself in surprise. “Oh, no, no, no, I can’t play the lead – that’s not fair to you guys, you’re younger than me.”

“Ocean, we wrote the part just for you. Go on, we insist!”

“Yeah, c’mon, Ocean!”

Yuuri tries to laugh it off, but then he sees they’re serious. Finally, he sighs –

“Alright, I’ll do it. But...how do you know it’s the right part for me?”

“The graceful femininity of your posture and movements,” says Gee, batting his eyelashes. “Also the fact that you will look good in _this.”_ He holds up what looks like a simple black gown but with sparkles glowing in the sunlight. Yuuri gasps.

“Oh my gosh, that’s so beautiful. Did you sew this?”

He nods and Yuuri reaches out to touch the fabric in awe. Silk velvet. "This will feel so soft on my skin!"

“It’s so wonderful to see a fellow man embracing his feminine side,” Gee sighs.

“You got that right, honey,” Phichit says, doing a z-snap, and everyone laughs. 

***

On the day of the talent show, Yuuri is slightly nervous. Everyone else has already done such a great job. Yuko told the funniest story about her daughters. Mila sang an absolutely infectious Madonna cover. Who knew Anya was such a brilliant violinist? Victor and Chris had teamed up and put on a comedy-dance routine which everyone could tell they put together at the last minute, but it brought the house down. Georgi may have failed to win Anya back with his karaoke love ballad, but he had such heart. And, of course, there were other counselors who put on entertaining performances, from juggling to poetry readings.

Finally, he and the kids are up, and everyone gets ready in the backstage rooms. Yuuri sits in one of them, surrounded by the girls after having put on his dress. For at least five minutes, all they could do was gush over how beautiful he looked until he gently reminded them they were supposed to do his makeup. ...Which he now somewhat regrets, considering how fussy they have become.

“But don’t you think – wouldn’t this eyeshadow look good?”

“Hm, I dunno. Looks a bit dark to me.”

“Hey, yours is also dark.”

“Well, yeah, but it doesn’t look like a bruise.”

Yuuri visibly tries not to roll his eyes, accidentally bumping his hand against the table and knocking one of the palettes over. It gets their attention.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me,” he starts saying, unaware of the sudden enlightened look on all their faces. For there, on the ground, was a smoky purple shade of eyeshadow, which everyone silently agreed would look _stunning_ on Yuuri.

For the rest of the time, the girls don’t argue once, having put their artistic differences aside and started focusing on what would match Yuuri’s skin tone. Dark but colorful was the way to go, they decided, save for the soft pink hint of lip gloss. Yuuri barely recognizes himself once they are done, though he means it in the best way possible.

“Good luck, Yuuri!”

“Break a leg!”

He winces at that. Mila laughs.

“Don’t worry, it’s show business.”

Yuuri laughs too, though he doesn’t quite get it. Why would he intentionally want to break someone’s leg?

Shrugging it off, he walks backstage and peers out at the audience from behind the curtains and _oh, wow, that’s a lot of faces._ He starts to low-key sweat a little bit when someone places a hand on his elbow.

“Hey, you’ve got this,” says Phichit, smiling at him. Yuuri smiles back, grateful.

“Thanks. Good luck.”

Phichit nods at him and emerges from behind the curtains. The show has begun.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” says Gee, “The Kids of the Earth group has decided to come together and put on a thespian act for you all. Prepare to be amazed!” Murmurs of agreement are heard in the crowd before he continues, “Come now, one and all! Hear my tales of the pumpkins that grow mighty and tall!”

Charmed, everyone plants their eyes on the stage and Gee clears his throat:

_“Far away, in the Land of Pumpkins, there once lived a humble village girl. She lived on a farm and wanted nothing more than to win first prize at the Pumpkin Fair. That is what people in the Land of Pumpkins did, you see, grow pumpkins and enter the biggest healthiest ones into contests.”_

“Makes sense,” Chris says, prompting some giggles.

“ _Pumpkin-growing season had arrived at last, and the girl was eager to plant her own seeds, which she bought from the local market in exchange for a bag of gold coins.”_

“A raw deal, if you ask me,” says Chris.

“Hey, quiet up front, I can’t hear the play!” Georgi hisses. Chris doesn’t talk for the rest of the production after that.

_“But try as she might, the girl could not make the pumpkin seeds grow. She put them in the sunniest patch with the wettest soil, but still they would not rise.”_

Phichit kneels on the stage near Minami, who is lying down.

“Grow! Grow, darn you!” he says, but Minami doesn’t budge.

_“With days turning into weeks, the girl began to lose all hope. Then, one morning, she finds a kitten stuck in a well. It had been left there overnight, shivering and hungry.”_

“Meow, meow!” whimpers the toddler wearing a kitten suit, prompting some “aww”s from the audience.

_“Luckily, the girl had had a hearty bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. With the strength of ten little girls, she turned the wheel, lifted the kitten out of the bucket and set it free.”_

Phichit puts down the kid and she runs off the stage, earning a small round of applause from the audience.

 _“Then she went back to her empty pumpkin patch to sit and wait. She was about to leave in despair once again when out of the blue,_ POOF,” Yuuri runs onto the stage, _“a beautiful fairy queen appeared!”_

Everybody is momentarily stunned by Yuuri’s clothing and makeup. Victor whistles and Yuuri blows him a kiss.

_“Unbeknownst to the village girl, the kitten belonged to the fairy, who had seen the good deed from behind a nearby building and decided to pay her a visit.”_

“I will grant you your wish”, Yuuri says, and Gee continues,

_“Said she,”_

“If you promise first to eat the pumpkin and use it for nothing else.”

_“Here, the girl found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She had been looking forward to entering the pumpkin in the contest, but the rules of magic could indeed be stubborn.”_

“That’s my Yuuri,” Victor teases, and Yuuri winks at him.

_“Finally, she shook the fairy’s hand and said,”_

“What do we have to do?”

“Well,” says Yuuri, getting a little nervous for this part, “we have to do the pumpkin dance. Don’t worry, I will show you how.”

The two of them start dancing around Minami, Phichit stumbling in attempt to copy Yuuri’s movements, which grow progressively graceful along with his confidence. Slowly, Minami rises from the ground until he has fully emerged in his orange jumpsuit and makeup.

“I am a pumpkin, tall and strong!” he sings.

“It’s absolutely magnificent,” Phichit says. It sounds like something Gee would say, and the two of them realize this as they try not to laugh. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Much obliged. Good day! And remember - this is only for eating.” With that, Yuuri exits the stage and Gee goes back to narrating.

_“After the fairy queen left, the girl went to find the ingredients to make pumpkin pie, as promised. However, on her way to her house, she found a poster tacked to one of the trees, warning any townspeople who happened upon it that today was the last day to enter the contest at the Pumpkin Fair. Naturally, being young and vulnerable to temptation, the thought of winning first prize was too much to bear. So she decided it might be alright that she enter the pumpkin into the contest first.”_

“What can I say? I like to win,” says Phichit, as though referring to the groaning audience.

_“She put the pumpkin, which by now was very large, onto the wagon and dragged it all the way to the fair. The mayor was about to crown the largest pumpkin there when the girl arrived. He took one look and was beside himself.”_

“Great Scott!” Leo shouts, and Gee giggles,

_“Cried he,”_

“That is the biggest pumpkin mine eyes have ever seen! Congratulations, miss, you have won! But who, may I ask, helped you grow this pumpkin?”

_“And without thinking, the girl grinned and replied,”_

“All by myself, I’ve done it!”

The audience groans again.

_“The girl took home first prize and went to sleep that night, dreaming of the delicious pumpkin pie she would eat tomorrow. But the next day, when she went to check on the wagon, the pumpkin was gone._

_“In its place, there sat a green troll, covered in warts.”_

“I have taken your pumpkin and hidden it someplace you may never find it,” says Yurio, “unless you give me five hundred gold coins!”

“But I haven’t any money,” says Phichit.

“Then you shall never see your pumpkin again!” he cackles, and he runs off the stage and into the pretend forest.

_“The girl buries her head in shame.”_

“Oh, no, what have I done? I must find the fairy queen!”

_“She rushed to the village square, the same place where she found the well yesterday. At the bottom, she spied a gold coin. In sudden remembrance of the troll she’d greeted earlier, she leaned across to retrieve the bucket when suddenly she lost her balance and descended down the darkened depths.”_

Phichit shouted and twirled, waving his hands for emphasis.

_“She expected to hit the ground any minute, and so was surprised to find herself suspended within midair. Above, she could see the coin, which was also levitated, before it disappeared out of thin air. The coin had been an illusion._

_“The girl gaped a moment longer before the invisible energy force surrounding her disintegrated and she fell to the ground with a loud_ THUD. _Rubbing her eyes, she suddenly stilled. For there, before her, was the fairy queen herself.”_

“You did not follow my heed,” Yuuri’s voice booms.

“I know. And I am sorry. But you have to help me. A woodland troll took my pumpkin for ransom and I haven’t any money!”

“‘Troll’?” Yuuri laughs, “No, you’re mistaken. That’s my sister! She’s the Swan Princess.”

Sure enough, Yurio appears in a feathery white gown with a large plume collar which he is currently trying not to choke on as he speaks his lines.

“T’was only a disguise, miss. You have nothing to fear.”

“But where is my pumpkin?” Yuuri’s eyes shine.

“Don’t you see?”

_“The fairy waved her hand and the coin flew into it. She showed it to the girl, who saw a pumpkin etched where the heads should have been. Then she gives it to her and says,”_

“Plant this coin in the ground as soon as you get back and do the same dance I taught you the day before. Then you will have your pumpkin back.”

_“The girl’s eyes flood with remorseful tears.”_

“Oh, I’m truly sorry! I hope to make this right! I’ll tell the mayor tomorrow it was you who helped me in my deed,” Phichit wails.

_“The fairy laughs good-naturedly.”_

“You are young and you are naïve, so I shall forgive you this time. But hear you this,”

_“She says, her eyes growing serious,”_

“If ever again should you attempt to thwart with the supernatural world, I will turn you into a pumpkin myself without hesitation.”

Phichit yelps and nods, and Yuuri laughs again.

“Good! Now, let us go back to your farm and we will plant this coin together.” Yuuri puts a hand on Phichit’s shoulder and starts leading him off the stage when he looks up and says,

“Would you like some pie too, perchance? That is, once it has fully grown?” Yuuri smiles.

“I would love nothing more.”

_“The two of them plant the coin and watch the pumpkin sprout to its full size before dicing it up and making pumpkin pies for the entire village. And the looks of delight upon her people’s faces was far better a prize than the blue ribbon she received the day before. The End.”_

The performers receives a standing ovation, which lasts all through the bowing sequence and grows loudest when the amazing talent of a narrator bows, pink all the way to his ears. Gee may be a shy twelve-year-old boy, but just for today - maybe even in the future - he is a world-renowned playwright.

Yuuri rushes down the stairs to greet his couldn’t-be-prouder boyfriend in an embrace.

“You look absolutely stunning,” he whispers.

“You and Chris did great too.”

“Gross, get a room!” Yurio shouts.

“Son, you’re grounded,” Victor retaliates playfully. Yurio stands there with his mouth wide open as if to say something back before grunting and walking away. Then Victor and Yuuri slowly turn back toward each other, mouths wavering before they burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Completely made up this one too.
> 
> Stories within stories are so fun to write, haha.


	16. Chapter 16

**“** Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!”

Victor and Yuuri stand at the edge of the lake, looking at each other with anticipatory yet amused faces, knowing what is to come next. How did they get into this situation, one might ask?

Well, it all started with the morning’s events.

***

“I am finally going to beat you, Speedy. And it’s going to be great,” Georgi bragged, as the two of them stretched near the climbing wall. Chris looked up at him, indifferent.

“Hmm - I don’t think so.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,” said Yuko, “we are gathered here today to witness the Great Climbing Wall Contest! Romeo will be going against Speedy for the last time this year. Come, one and all, to the greatest event in history!” The kids and counselors clapped, and Victor turned to Yuuri with shining eyes, looking like an eager puppy.

“Guess what?”

“Hm?”

“You know how camp ends in a week?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri said, a sudden wave of sadness going through him at the reminder.

“Well, the kids all bet Georgi is going to win-”

“What?!”

“So I made a deal with them that if he does, we’ll jump into the lake as a way of saying farewell.”

_“Victor!”_

“What?” He shrugged. “Relax, it’s not like it’s going to happen. Chris will beat him no problem.”

“You’re teaching our kids to gamble?” Yuuri sounded more relaxed this time, but with a hint of exasperation. Victor laughed.

“We can’t adopt all of them, you know.”

Yuuri laughed at that and lightened up a bit, rubbing noses with the other.

“Climbers, you know the rules! Get ready to start soon!” said Yuko.

Everyone’s heads turned to look at Georgi and Chris, who buckled their harnesses and helmets. Then they stood by the wall, face-to-face.

“Hey. I’ll see you at the finish line,” Chris said, flashing his most charming smile and putting out his hand for Georgi to shake, which prompted some laughs from the audience. Georgi took it in stride.

“I don’t see a finish line near here. But there is a lovely bell at the top which I will gladly ring for you, _darling.”_

Everyone roared with laughter at that one, and even Chris was caught off guard. Then he frowned and they got into their climbing positions.

“On belay!” they cried.

“Belay on,” the team of rope-holders echoed.

“Ready to climb!”

“Climb away!”

Right away, Georgi began speed-climbing up the wall while Chris shrugged, unfazed, and laggered behind him. If this was the guy their bet depended on, Yuuri felt reason to be more than a little concerned.

“What is he doing?” he whisper-hissed. Victor laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. Chris is a slow beginner, but he does it on purpose since it works to his advantage. Look –” Yuuri followed his finger to where he was pointing, and sure enough, Chris gained speed while Georgi started slowing down. Victor clucks his tongue. “So silly. He shouldn’t have burnt himself out like that.”

“Do you really think Chris is going to win?” Victor snorted.

“Look for yourself. The facts are right in front of you.”

“Oh, I know, but – ” Yuuri pulls at his hair. “Something tells me it’s going to be close.”

“Ah, my poor stressed _babushka,”_  Victor mused, pulling Yuuri’s tense form close and kissing the top of his head. Yuuri may have smiled a bit, but he wasn’t quite ready to admit it yet.

“I really don’t feel like jumping into a lake, you know.”

“We can hold hands~” Victor hummed, stroking Yuuri’s hair. He sighed.

“Fine. But I’m still mad at you.”

Meanwhile, back at the climbing wall, Chris was certainly looking good. He scaled each hand and foothold, seemingly without effort. Georgi, however, was now the one lagging behind.

Naturally, since he was around Victor for so long, Yuuri began to pick up some of his traits - one of them being perceptiveness, which he used to focus on Georgi’s reactions. He looked to be in pain. Not just physical pain from climbing up at such a speed, but also the all-too-familiar pain of pressure the situation brought mentally. Yuuri watched as his expression grew twisted, eyes narrowing, then –

Mila winced.

“Is...Is he crying?”

“Oh, _da._ He feels emotions very deeply,” said Anya, waving it off as if it were obvious.

Sure enough, his cheeks grew flushed and small sniffling sounds could be heard above. However, the silent crying spell did not slow him down, as everyone thought it would. In fact, he seemed to be gaining speed, all of a sudden.

The crowd did a double-take, hitching their breath. They could not believe their eyes. Here was this beast of a man, crying his eyes out, and yet he tore up that wall with such power, muscles rippling in the sun. Every heave, every huff, was a choked sob and a demonstration of strength all at once. Chris remained blissfully unaware of his surroundings until it was too late and Georgi stood at the top, ringing the bell, tears streaming down his face.

Victor frowned.

“I just don’t get it. Logically, he was supposed to lose.” He put a calculating finger on his lips and stood like that for a moment. Then – “Oh my God! Of course I should have known! I was being an idiot,” he said, putting a hand on his forehead. Yuuri’s brows furrowed.

“What? What is it?”

“It took me until he was just passing Chris for me to realize that Georgi’s tears are a way of releasing pressure _and_ compensating for his sensitivity. It’s what fuels him to keep going when he’s feeling at his worst.” Yuuri shrugged.

“Oh, that. Yeah, I noticed he was taking it rather hard when Chris passed him earlier.” Victor's blue eyes grew wide.

“You knew before me?” He nodded. Victor gasped.

“Yuuri, I never knew you were so insightful!”

“I’m really not,” he said, almost shy. “I just learned to be from you.” Victor lit up at that.

“Well, you taught _me,”_ he said, “to be a big old sap!” With that, he peppered his face with kisses, making him laugh.

“Hold on, you two,” said Phichit, interrupting them, “Don’t think we haven’t forgotten our part of the deal.”

The two of them pulled away and looked at him.

“Huh? What? I don’t remember any deal being made,” Yuuri said, trying to act in-denial. But Phichit, having a built-in Bullshit-O-Meter, stared them down and tapped his foot expectantly.

“This is going to be most glorious,” said Gee. Leo rested a casual elbow on his shoulder, smiling.

“Agreed."

***

And so, there they are – two foolish camp counselors about to plunge into the ice-cold and muddy depths of the lake at the hands of their campers.

Victor grabs Yuuri’s hand among the sounds of chanting.

“You ready?”

“No.” Victor laughs.

“Good. Let’s go.”

The chants grow steadily louder as they edge more towards the lake, jump into the air, and then SPLASH! They sink below the surface.  

When they re-emerge, they find themselves covered in mud, causing everybody to laugh and applaud. Then, seeing the amount on their faces and the couple’s proximity to one-another gives them a new idea.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

Yuuri looks at Victor’s mud-covered lips and laughs, shaking his head.

“Oh, you can’t possibly be serious.”

The crowd gives him a brief “boo”, which is mostly overshadowed by the new chants. Of course, Victor is laughing, waving at the kids like they want his autograph.

Finally, Yuuri grins, having found the perfect revenge opportunity to get back at his boyfriend. While Victor is still preoccupied by his “fans”, Yuuri gets into a crouching stance, then pounces on him from the side, effectively toppling him into the mud. Victor goes down with a yell, which is soon silenced by Yuuri lying on top, kissing him.

The kids cheer once again, with some of the counselors even joining in and whistling. Yuuri pulls away.

“That’s what happens when you go making bets behind my back,” he breathes. Victor looks up at him with a surprised expression, which quickly melts into mischief.

“I can’t say I mind,” he purrs, double-arching his eyebrows. And before Yuuri can comprehend what any of that means, Victor suddenly gets out from underneath him and pins him to the ground, kissing him while lying on top. Others have picked up on the immediate suggestiveness in tone, hoping they don’t become involuntary voyeurists. Yurio, in particular, did not sign up for it.

“Hey! HEY! Keep it PG, you two!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter's a bit shorter than most...
> 
> Oh well! *shrugs*


	17. Chapter 17

Luckily, before things can – *ahem* – escalate any further, Victor and Yuuri realize that not only is an entire crowd of people watching them, but also mud is a _terrible_ setting. People can say all they want about mud having nutrients for the skin. It doesn’t make it any less filthy when you’re absolutely caked with grime.

Even though Victor is perfectly willing to forego the consequences - and as romantic as that sounds - he agrees that it would not be proper. When it happens, it should be private, and they leave it at that.

Once again, their communication skills are healthier than salad itself.

The two of them get up and walk back to their cabin to take a shower before meeting up with everybody around the campfire ring for an emotional goodbye lunch. These people whom he has known for years - it _can’t_ have just been three months, not with their connection - mean so much to him that he cannot say.

People have already started walking up to each other and bidding farewell. Yuuri goes straight to the first person he can think of. Yuko sees him approaching and smiles.

“Gosh, it’s been so great getting to know you, Yuuri. Have a good rest of the fall, hm?”

He doesn’t realize tears are streaming down his face until she offers him some tissues. “Hey, it’s okay,” she whispers, “you’ll see me next year. Maybe even sooner, since my husband and I run a business together back at home.”

“It’s not that,” he says, in-between sniffles. Yuko. His friend. How can he ever thank her? How to begin-

She reaches out and hugs him. Perfect.

“Thank you,” he whispers. _“Arigato.”_

“Aw, isn’t that sweet,” says Mila, joining in for a group hug.

“Count me in,” says Anya.

“And me,” says Georgi.

“You can bet _I_ want a piece of this,” says Chris, prompting some laughs.

Soon, everybody at the camp, including the kids, have joined in on the group hug. It is then that Yuuri realizes he doesn’t have to say anything –

His heart has done all the talking it needed to.

Once everyone pulls apart again, Yuko and the girls take one look at Yuuri and Victor and nearly burst into tears.

“What? What’s wrong?” they both ask at the same time.

“You guys live so far apart!”

“How are you going to say goodbye?!”

“Don’t fret about us, we’ll manage just fine,” Victor chuckles. “Isn’t that right, Yuuri?”

“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” Victor chuckles and kisses his forehead.

“Besides – we’re not saying goodbye just yet.”

“You’re not?” The girls perk right up. “Deets, deets!” they chant. Yuuri scratches his head.

“Well, Victor and I talked about it last night –” The girls nod. “And we agreed that it would be both fun and efficient for him to drive me to college himself instead of me going back to my country and then returning to America.”

The three of them squeal.

“How romantic!” says Mila and Anya.

Have fun, you two!” Yuko winks.

“Well, we should probably be going now, since our luggage is in the car. See you all next year!” says Victor.

“So long! Have a safe trip!” Everyone echoes back. Victor turns to his boyfriend.

“Oh, and Yuuri - ”

“Hm?”

Just then, he finds himself getting lifted off his feet and into the other’s arms, bridal-style. The three girls squeal and fan themselves once again.

“So beautiful!”

“I can hear the bells already!”

“Victor, now you’ve got them all high-strung,” Yuuri lectures, though his eyes are shining.

They walk toward Victor's rental car, which awaits them in the parking lot. Everyone waves at them, figures slowly growing smaller as the distance increases. Yuuri waves back from over Victor’s shoulder.

“Goodbye!” he calls to the people who have helped him grow so much. _“Goodbye!”_ he calls again, louder, to the people he will never forget.

 _Goodbye,_ he thinks in his head, to the days of his youth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, sad ending. :(
> 
> Not quite done yet, though!


	18. Chapter 18

Yuuri looks at the map route and directions on his phone. His brows furrow.

“Nine hundred miles sure is a long distance. Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?”

“Are you kidding? I’d drive you around the circumference of the earth if they ever built a bridge for it.” Yuuri chortles.

“There you go again.”

“What?” Victor looks genuinely confused.

“Being all romantic and silly.”

“I told you already you bring out the sap in me,” he says, sticking his tongue out. “I normally try to spoil people with gifts since I’m not much good with expressing words.”

“Mmhm,” Yuuri hums, “And what words would those be?”

For a moment, Victor looks like he’s about to speak, but then he looks down, uncharacteristically shy. Yuuri finds himself disappointed for reasons he cannot place. They drive along the road, silent for a while. Then, Victor picks up a CD and puts it into the slot up front. Right away, piano with a familiar melody begins to play in the background.

_“Sento una voce che piange lontano~”_

“Remember this?” Victor whispers.

Yuuri nods and rests his head on Victor’s shoulder, which bathes in light shining through the sunroof. It’s the song that played on the radio back near the beginning of summer when they were on a boat ride, just the two of them. It was Victor’s favorite song, and now it’s his, too.

But instead of hearing the usual chorus, the piano picks up.

“It’s different now,” says Yuuri.

“Shh,” Victor nods, then gestures to listen.

 _“Stammi vicino,”_ a new voice sings alongside the man’s, _“Non te andare~”_

“I researched the song earlier. It turns out it’s part of an opera. This is the ending, where the man finds his significant other and they stay together forever.” says Victor.

“Oh,” says Yuuri, placing his hand on top of Victor’s. “Lovely.”

And indeed, it is.

 ***

Sometime later that afternoon, after driving a while along the Canadian border, Victor sticks his head out the window and sees a nearby city.

“This looks like a good place to look around,” he says, “let’s stop here.”

The two of them get out of the car to stretch their legs, though they know it will have to be cut short. It has, after all, been just a little over six hours. And with five more hours to go until they reach their hotel for the night, there is a _lot_ of distance still to cover.

They walk around the city, Victor’s hand around Yuuri’s shoulder and Yuuri’s around Victor’s waist. A couple people stop to talk to them in French, which Victor replies back to with natural fluidity. Yuuri, on the other hand, while head-over-heels for Victor’s adopted speaking voice in French, has no idea what they’re talking about and so apologizes in English when they address him at one point. With impressed looks on their faces, they turn to Victor and tell him something in rapid French. Victor laughs, then translates.

“According to many of the people who live here, not enough tourists are humble enough to admit they don’t know what some of the native speakers are talking about. They usually just nod and say ‘Uh-huh’, sometimes when it’s not even necessary, so they appreciate your honesty.”

Yuuri beams at that. He beckons Victor, who leans down so the other can whisper in his ear.

“How do you say ‘thank you’ in French?”

Victor tells him and he says so. The people smile, shaking his hand, then talk to Victor again. He laughs out loud.

“Apparently not a lot of tourists bother making the effort to talk to them in their native language, either. Basically, they think you’re great and want to have tea with you.”

Yuuri scratches his head.

“But all I said was ‘thank you’.”

“Oh, it’s more than just that,” Victor laughs, “I also made sure to tell them how smart you are, how kind, caring, thoughtful –”

“Aw, Victor, not in front of the Canadians,” Yuuri mock-complains, sheepish smile on his face. Victor continues, reaching out to hug him.

“How strong, handsome, sassy, adorable…”

 _“Victor~”_ Yuuri whines, covering his now red face as his boyfriend showers him with kisses and everyone laughs.

“Not to mention snuggly-wuggly!” he purrs, nuzzling his cheek against the top of his head. Finally, even Yuuri has to laugh.

“You really told them all that about me?” Victor nods. “But why?”

“Well, how could I not? You’re all those things to me, and more. You’re – I –” Victor seems about to make some kind of confession before something catches his attention in the distance and he doubles over with laughter. Yuuri raises an eyebrow.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry...I can’t…that _statue!_ ” he barely manages, clutching his stomach. “It’s standing in the exact same position as you were when you were frustratedly trying to cook a marshmallow!”  

Yuuri looks up past Victor - whose face is now covered with tears - and sure enough, he sees a statue with a poker-faced expression standing ramrod straight, except for its arms, which protrude from its sides, almost like it’s a penguin. Yuuri sees a sword in one of them and imagines it as a marshmallow stick. Soon enough, he is also rolling on the ground, laughing his head off. Together they look like lunatics.

Well, more so than usual. 

 “We should get a picture with it,” says Yuuri. Victor nods, still laughing. His hands are shaky as he tries to take the picture with his phone, stifling his laughter. He gets some shots of Yuuri, most of them pretty blurry due to his utter inability to stand still. One of the best ones is Yuuri copying the exact same pose of the statue, which causes Victor to nearly burst a gut.

Finally, Yuuri confiscates his phone and takes a selfie of the two of them smiling in each other’s arms, statue photobombing them in the background. “There. Something to remember me by,” he jokes, laughing. Victor laughs, too, though his eyes do the opposite. Yuuri frowns as they fade to an even bluer shade of blue, to the point where they’re grey. He places a loving hand on the other’s cheek. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” he laughs. The thunderclouds in his eyes temporarily subside at the touch, bits of light shining through like rays of the sun. However, they don’t entirely disappear.

Yuuri sweeps the other’s hair out of his eyes in a tender gesture. It’s one of the few times Victor was ever really serious. He’s finally realized Yuuri’s leaving him in less than a few days. He’s finally realizing how bittersweet their journey has become.

He's no longer pretending.

***

Yuuri walks out of the bathroom and dries his hair with a towel, having just showered.

“I was talking to Phichit just the other day.”

“Hm?” Victor looks up from his phone in interest. Yuuri sits on his half of their shared hotel bed and continues,

“So when I forgot my toothbrush at the cabin and ran back to go and get it, I found him there with it in his hand.” Victor chuckles at that. “I thanked him and was about to go on my way. Then, just before I leave, he says, ‘When I come back next year, I wanna be a CIT just like you’. And then I started crying,” Yuuri laughs. “The poor guy was so confused. He thought somehow he’d insulted me.”

“God, I can’t wait to see him next year,” says Victor. “I can’t wait to see all of them.”

“Even Yurio?” Yuuri teases.

“Of course, silly, he’s our favorite!”

They laugh, fond memories racing through their head of their littlest one. Then Yuuri leans across to kiss Victor on the cheek before resting his head on his shoulder. Victor pulls the covers up around them, placing a hand on Yuuri’s neck.

“You promise to be good this time?” he muses, referring to last time’s shin-kick shenanigan. Victor laughs out loud at that.

“Nothing but gentleness for you, baby.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” the other scoffs. Victor buries his nose in his hair, breathing in.

“Mmm, you smell good.”

“Funny. I wouldn’t think cheap hotel shampoo would resonate so much with you.” Victor sighs dramatically.

“You make it so hard to be romantic.”

Yuuri laughs, closing his eyes. God, is he tired.

Victor runs a soothing hand through his hair.

“Yuuri.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you,” he begins, an unusual intensity in his voice, “so I better say it now before it’s too late.”

“Go ahead,” Yuuri says, yawning.

“I’ve been trying to tell you all day, really, but for some reason it’s just so hard. I hardly even know where to begin. I don’t know, should I try a metaphor? Yeah, metaphors are romantic. See, it’s like a painting. You know how paintings are sometimes in black and white? Oh, shit, that’s photographs, sorry. You know how _photographs_ are – well, anyway, it’s like when you arrived, color film was suddenly invented. You bring color to my world. Haha, get it? I guess what I’m trying to say is…”

But by the time Victor gets to what he’s trying to say, the steady rhythm of his chest has already put Yuuri to sleep, to the point where he’s beyond hearing.

***

The next day is a relatively short three and a half-hour drive to Detroit. Upon arriving at the campus, both sets of jaws drop.

The school in design looks not unlike a European cathedral, with its towering turrets and stained glass windows. When combined with an azure sky and wildflowers dotting the grass, it really is quite a sight. Yuuri had even seen pictures of the place before he applied to it, but he never knew how it would appear in real life.

They get out of the car, stretching their legs for one last time. Victor pops open the trunk, helping Yuuri get most of his luggage out. Boxes, bags, you name it – he had every kind of containment unit in there.

“Are you sure you’ve got everything?”

“Why don’t you ask all these boxes?” says Yuuri. Victor chuckles.

“I think I’ll miss your sass the most.”

Luckily, the two of them were among the first to arrive for Moving In Day. A fancy golf cart with a caboose-like system trailing behind it greeted them, and the people on board took Yuuri’s luggage with the promise of delivering it right to his room. Already, he was impressed by their organization –

To think he used to be worried.

Victor puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on - I see a tree over there, let’s sit down and chat,” he says. They walk hand-in-hand to the area, swinging their arms like they sometimes would whenever they went on little walks around the camp.

Yuuri sits against the tree, Victor laying his head in his lap and the two of them soaking in the last hints of summer sun before the fall season was sure to pounce upon them so suddenly. They chat about nothing and everything, enjoying each other’s company in these final few moments.

Finally, their schedules can no longer be avoided. Yuuri must go to his dorm room. Victor must catch a flight to Russia.

The two of them stand up and Victor makes a move to hug Yuuri when suddenly, Yuuri squishes his face between his hands.

“Swear to me.”

“What?” He looks like a pufferfish, but now is not the time to laugh.

“Swear to me that this is not just a summer fling,” he repeats. “I want us to be together until the end. I want us to be like the song, Victor. I want that more than anything in the world.”

“Me too. I want that too,” he says, voice growing hoarse. “I could never leave your side, and there’s no better time to prove it than now. Because even when I am, we’re still together. Yuuri,” he says, taking the other’s hands from his face and holding them in his own, “I..." He looks down. " _Aishiteru.”_

Yuuri’s eyes well up, weak smile gracing his face.

“I don’t think I taught you that one.”

“You didn’t. I learned it myself,” the other laughs nervously.

“Well, that’s a wonderful coincidence, because you haven’t taught me to say it in Russian either, and yet –” He leans forward to whisper in his ear, _“Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu, Vitya.”_

And for the longest time, several college kids moving in that day wonder what could possibly be going on between the two men clinging to each other for dear life and sobbing in the middle of the campus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it time to cry yet?
> 
> 'Cause these two have me like: ;_;


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, technically that last chapter was the ending,  
> but you can have this epilogue to make up for my absolute cruelty. X-D

Yuuri sits up in bed and rubs his eyes as the sun shines through the dorm window, marking the promise of a brand new day. He puts on his glasses and looks at the calendar on the wall next to him. With an air of confidence, he crosses out ‘Marketing’ on the 8 AM line and writes ‘Dance’ in its place.

He switched his major at the beginning of the year, having decided to pursue a dancing career after all, slowly but surely. Sure, it might not pay as much as some of the higher-field jobs, but when it was something he loved, what did it matter?

Just then, he hears a buzz from his phone on the bedside table. Smiling, he picks it up to see who it is.

He has kept in regular contact since he arrived a month ago with the counselors and some of the campers who were old enough to have phones. Sometimes it was Chris with his latest gossip. Sometimes it was Phichit with a new photograph to show him. Sometimes it was Yuko, who liked to check in every once in awhile.

And sometimes it was Victor.

Yuuri unlocks his phone and pulls up his texting app. Sure enough, he can hear that Russian voice in his head already.

_Good morning sunshine! ^3^_

He chuckles to himself, then types back,

_Good morning. <3 _

_How is school going?_

_Great! Miss you, though. :(_

_I miss you too,_ Victor writes back. Then – _If only you would come downstairs already. I’ve been waiting for an hour. ;))_

Yuuri’s heart stops in his throat at that.

 _WHAT_.

Then, without paying any mind to basic hygiene and a new pair of clothes, he grabs his bag and rushes to class as fast as he can.

When he first enters the room, it doesn’t look as though anyone else is there, which makes sense since he’s technically ten minutes early. Then, upon taking a closer look, he finds Victor himself sitting at the desk next to his.

“Oh my God, _Victor,”_ he breathes, rushing over to give him a hug, “what are you doing here?” The other hugs him back, chuckling for a short while before he says,

“Well, I never got my degree back in Russia because I was too busy dancing. So I thought I’d get a few credits by taking some semesters here.” Yuuri shakes his head, smiling.

That man never fails to surprise him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was thinking - 
> 
> I hardly ever do this, because I’m a firm believer in write-and-done when it comes to my works, but since I had so much fun writing this fic, I’m considering making a sequel. 
> 
> Please let me know whether or not it’s in demand and if you have any suggestions for what to include!


End file.
